DIRECT ANSWER
Definition
EDGAR is the SEC’s electronic filing and public-access system for company and market-participant submissions. For AUMSearch, EDGAR is the source system for Form 13F filings, filing metadata, accession numbers, filer CIKs, and official source documents.
USE THIS DATA
Move from the definition to the workflow.
Use the same source-linked record model in the interface that fits the research task.
At a glance
- System role
- Electronic filing and public access
- Filer ID
- CIK
- Submission ID
- Accession number
- AUMSearch focus
- Form 13F and source documents
EDGAR identifiers
A CIK identifies an EDGAR filer account. An accession number identifies an individual submission. The form type tells readers what was filed. These fields should remain separate: a manager can submit many filings under one CIK, and an accession number identifies the submission rather than the organization.
Filing metadata and source documents
An EDGAR filing can contain a primary document and supporting exhibits or XML files. Form 13F information tables are structured attachments within a filing submission. A normalized holdings row must retain the accession and source-document relationship needed to reproduce it.
A source-first EDGAR model
- Preserve the exact accession number.
- Store the filer CIK and form type.
- Keep report period, filed date, and accepted timestamp distinct.
- Link to the official filing detail page.
- Record amendment and supersession relationships.
- Keep retrieval and normalization timestamps separate from SEC timestamps.
Worked example: build a Berkshire filing link
The SEC filing detail for Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s Form 13F-HR lists filer CIK 0001067983, accession 0001193125-26-352200, a June 30, 2026 report period, and an August 14, 2026 filing date. Treat these as separate fields when creating a source-linked record.
For SEC Archives, the directory uses the numeric CIK without leading zeroes and the accession without hyphens: /Archives/edgar/data/1067983/000119312526352200/. Start with the official filing index before opening a document. The index displays primary_doc.html as the primary Form 13F document, but its rendered link target is /Archives/edgar/data/1067983/000119312526352200/xslForm13F_X02/primary_doc.xml; retain the display label and actual href separately. The index also lists 56757.xml as the information-table attachment.
This is a link-construction example, not a global identifier registry. If the filing index names a different primary document, preserve that exact document name instead of guessing from the form type.
| Field | Verified value | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Filer CIK | 0001067983 | Identify Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in EDGAR; the Archives path uses 1067983 |
| Accession | 0001193125-26-352200 | Identify this submission; remove hyphens only for the Archives directory |
| Filing index | 0001193125-26-352200-index.html | Confirm form, dates, documents, and filer before deep-linking |
| Primary document label | primary_doc.html | Display label in the SEC filing index |
| Primary document href | https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1067983/000119312526352200/xslForm13F_X02/primary_doc.xml | Open the rendered primary 13F-HR document target |
| Information table | 56757.xml | Open the structured holdings attachment named by the filing index |
SRC
Primary sources
Definitions and regulatory claims on this page are grounded in the following official public resources.
- SEC EDGAR search
- SEC Berkshire Hathaway filing indexOfficial primary source for the filer CIK, accession, report period, filed and accepted dates, primary document, and information table.
- SEC Berkshire Hathaway primary document (rendered target)The filing index displays primary_doc.html, but its rendered link resolves to this xslForm13F_X02/primary_doc.xml target.
- SEC Berkshire Hathaway information tableStructured information-table attachment named by the filing index.
- SEC EDGAR glossary
- SEC CIK guide