The Submission Toolset

The Submission Toolset contains functions that pertain to creating, managing and filing the EDGAR submission.

1. Validate

The Validate function validates the submission file and all documents contained within it. The Validate function validates EDGAR submission data and any documents contained within a submission. Any errors found during validation will be displayed in the Validate Filing tab in the Information View.

The Validate function will list all errors found in the form data fields, including invalid characters and invalid data formats. To validate a submission, ensure that the Submission View is the active edit window and press the Validate button in the Submission Toolset of the Submission Ribbon.

The Validate Filing tab will retain error messages until you close the tab. Double-clicking on an error or warning in the Validate Filing tab will open the Submission View to the form data page that contains the error.

Errors contained within documents attached to the submission will also be displayed in the Validate Filing tab. Double-clicking on a document error listed in the tab will open the document and automatically select the line that contains the error.

Please note that the Validate function will not validate the authenticity of entered data. It is recommended that you submit a Test filing prior to a Live submission.

The Validate function can also be used to validate individual documents. This function appears on other ribbons to make the Validate function more accessible and to aid you in validating documents. To validate an individual document, ensure that the desired edit window is the active edit window and press the Validate button. This button may be pressed from the Section 16 Ribbon for ownership documents or from the Form D Ribbon for Form D documents, as well as from the Submission Ribbon. The button that is pressed does not change the operation of this function.

A tab in the Information View will appear that contains any errors found in the document.

2. File

The File function sends the submission to the SEC as a Test or a Live filing. The arrow located beneath the button indicates that this function has a pop-up menu.

3. File Test

The File Test menu option will file the submission as a Test filing to the SEC’s EDGAR System. Please note that this function will not be available for Form 13H filings. Press the Yes button to continue the filing. Pressing the No button will close the dialog and abort the filing. If the Yes button is pressed, a dialog will appear that contains the progress of the submission. When the progress bar reaches 100% and the dialog closes, the file has been submitted.

After a submission has been filed using the File Test function, a transmission log will be created and displayed in the Information View. This transmission log contains pertinent information about the filing, including the accession number for the filing and any issues that may have been encountered during the filing process. Please note that errors displayed in the transmission log pertain only to the process of filing and not to the data contained in the file. It is recommended that all submissions be validated using the Validate function prior to filing.

4. File Test as Agent

The File Test as Agent menu option will file the submission as a Test filing to the SEC’s EDGAR System. This function will also remove any CIK/CCC or contact information from the filing and replace it with the filing agent information set in the application settings.

This function, like the File Test function, can be set to query you each time the function is used. See the portion of this section on using the Test File function for more information on how to set File-TO-SEC to query upon test filing.

After a submission has been filed using the File Test as Agent function, a transmission log will be created and displayed in the Information View. This transmission log contains pertinent information about the filing, including the accession number for the filing, and any issues that may have been encountered during the filing process. Please note that errors displayed in the transmission log pertain only to the process of filing and not to the data contained in the file. It is recommended that all submissions be validated using the Validate function prior to filing.

5. File Live

The File Live menu option will file the submission as a Live filing to the SEC’s EDGAR System. Please note that when you submit a Live filing, the public portions of the submission will automatically be disseminated by EDGAR. It is recommended that you submit Test filings prior to filing a submission using the File Live function.

Press the Yes button to continue the filing. Pressing the No button will close the dialog and abort the filing. If the Yes button is pressed, a dialog will appear that contains the progress of the submission. When the progress bar reaches 100% and the dialog closes, the file has been submitted.

After a submission has been filed using the File Live function, a transmission log will be created and displayed in the Information View. This transmission log contains pertinent information about the filing, including the accession number for the filing, and any issues that may have been encountered during the filing process. Please note that errors displayed in the transmission log pertain only to the process of filing and not to the data contained in the file. It is recommended that all submissions be validated using the Validate function prior to filing.

Other warnings or errors may occur during the submission process. These errors will interrupt the File Test or File Live function by displaying query boxes. Clicking the OK button on such query boxes will abort the filing attempt. Errors may include the following:

a. Improper response from server

This error message indicates that the transmission of the filing failed for an unknown reason.

b. Failed

This error message will appear if File-to-SEC is disconnected from the SEC server during the transmission. This may occur if the request times out.

c. Failed - unable to obtain session number

This error will occur if File-to-SEC is unable to obtain a session number from the SEC server and most likely indicates that the SEC server itself is down.

d. Could not connect

This message indicates that File-to-SEC is unable to connect to the SEC server. If this message appears, you should check the computer’s internet connection and check the SEC website at https://www.edgarfiling.sec.gov/ to verify that it is accessible.

e. Error logging into site. Invalid login.

This message indicates that either the CIK or password (or both) used to submit the filing is (are) invalid. If this message appears, you should check that the password and CIK are correctly entered, are valid, and have not expired.

If any of the above error messages are encountered during transmission, it is recommended that you try again after ensuring that File-to-SEC is able to communicate via the internet or that corrective measures have been taken to ensure that all log-in information is valid.

File submitted successfully

Not an error message or warning. This message will appear after the File Test or File Live functions are completed, if no errors occurred and the transmission is successful.

Get Mail

The Get Mail function retrieves mail messages from the SEC website.