At a glance, 10-Q and 10-K filings seem similar, but one letter makes a difference. Both filings are almost required reading when you have money in a company. 10-K filings let you picture the company’s financial health in the long term, while 10-Q filings are a snapshot of the current quarter.
10-K & 10-Q Definitions
Both 10-Q and 10-K filings promote corporate transparency by overviewing the company’s performance and providing key disclosures. A 10-Q filing is a quarterly report summarizing a company’s financial performance over one quarter. It contains brief disclosures and unaudited financial statements. A 10-K filing is an annual report summarizing a company’s financial performance over the fiscal year. It contains more in-depth disclosures and audited financial statements. Think of it like a quarterly check-in compared to a yearly deep dive.
Frequency and Deadlines
Companies file Form 10-Q after every quarter, or three times a year. They file Form 10-K after the fourth quarter, or once a year. The chart below shows the 10-Q and 10-K deadlines in days after the end of the filing period for companies with a 12/31 fiscal year end.
| Company Category | 10-Q Deadline | 10-K Deadline |
| Large Accelerated Filer ($700MM or more) | 40 days | 60 days |
| Accelerated Filer ($75-$700MM) | 40 days | 75 days |
| Non-accelerated Filer (less than $75MM) | 45 days | 90 days |
Audited Financial Statements
10-K filings always contain audited financial statements, but 10-Q filings do not. Audited financial statements are reviewed by an independent external auditor. In other words, the auditor is not affiliated with the company and gives an outside opinion. This is a good place to look for red flags in the company. You can find the auditor’s statement in the “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” section. The auditor’s statement is the only part of the filing not written by the company itself. The auditor will express one of four types of opinions in the statement:
- Unqualified:The auditor is fully confident in the company’s financial statements and believes they are accurate. Anything besides an unqualified opinion is generally a major red flag.
- Qualified: The auditor believes the company’s financial statements are accurate, but one issue, like questionable inventory valuation, prevents them from issuing an unqualified opinion.
- Adverse: The auditor does not believe the company’s financial statements are accurate. The company’s financial statements might be misleading or incorrect.
- Disclaimer of Opinion:The auditor did not have enough evidence to form an opinion. The company may have blocked their access to its financial statements, or they could be missing entirely.
However, just because the financial statements are not audited does not mean they are inaccurate. They just have not been verified by an external auditor. 10-Q filing financial statements are still valuable snapshots of a company’s performance because the statements in 10-K filings can be several months old, depending on the time of year.
Form Contents
Besides the audited and unaudited financial statements, 10-Q and 10-K filings differ in content. 10-Q filing financial statements are more condensed with brief footnotes, while 10-K filings include full footnotes and accounting policies. Analysis-heavy sections like the Management’s Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) also go more in-depth. The 10-Q MD&A focuses on short-term changes from that quarter, but the 10-K MD&A provides a full-year analysis with a deeper discussion of industry trends. Unlike the 10-Q filing, a 10-K filing generally has a comparative analysis where management compares the current year to previous years. This gives management a chance to tell their company’s story or make forward-looking statements.
Because 10-Q filings are not comprehensive, they do not list all disclosures and risk factors. 10-K filings list all known disclosures and risk factors, but 10-Q filings only list new disclosures and risk factors. For example, a company that relies on complex supply chains would not list that risk factor in its 10-Q filing because it is ongoing. That company would list a recent data breach in its 10-Q because it is a new material change. Similarly, 10-Q filings do not list legal proceedings unless they are new to that quarter. If you are not familiar with SEC filings, or you just want to stay in the loop, read up on the most important 10-Q filings in 2022 and the most impactful 10-K filings from 2023. You’ll get a professional breakdown of the top filings and learn what to look for next time you skim your quarterly reports.
On the other hand, 10-K filings provide full disclosures and additional context. Both 10-K and 10-Q filings have business overviews stating what services the company provides, but the 10-K filing has more information on the company’s business strategy and structure. You can find everything from executive salaries to chief competitors to internal procedures.
10-K and 10-Q Form Structure
10-K filings always have four parts and fifteen items. The first part is a general overview of the company and its business structure, and the second part presents financial data and its analysis. The third part discloses executive compensation and explains how the company is directed and controlled, while the fourth part includes signatures and financial statement schedules.
10-Q filings have two parts: financial information, including condensed statements and changes in procedures, and other updates like new legal proceedings. 10-Q filings do not have a fixed number of items since they only include new updates for that quarter. If there are no new updates to an item, the company will not include the item.
If that was a lot to digest, here is a side-by-side comparison of both filings:
| Section or Feature | Form 10-Q | Form 10-K |
| Purpose | Quarterly update | Annual comprehensive report |
| Length | Shorter (20–80 pages) | Longer (100–300+ pages) |
| Financials | Condensed, unaudited | Full, audited with footnotes |
| MD&A | Quarterly view | Full-year strategic view |
| Risk Factors | Only if updated | Full disclosure |
| Executive Compensation | Not included | Included |
| Corporate Governance Info | Not included | Included |
| Exhibits | Limited | Extensive, including contracts |
| Auditor Report | Not included | Included |
Conclusion
Whether you are representing an entire firm or investing on your own, 10-Q and 10-K filings will keep you up to date. If you want to run a quick check-in on a company, go for its 10-Q filing. If you need to know how it will do in the long run, its 10-K filing is the safest bet. Both filings provide complementary information, so they are always worth reading. As a bonus, you can get both delivered to your inbox with SEC Filing Data’s free SEC filing email alerts.