by Meaghan Jerrett

EDGAR Next: What Changed and How It Impacts Your Business

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has recently updated how its Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (“EDGAR”) system works. As of September 15, 2025, all filers must comply with the amendments. The legacy system is set to deactivate on December 19, 2025.  

What is EDGAR and why is it being updated? EDGAR is the main system for companies and others submitting documents under the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, and the Investment Company Act of 1940. The EDGAR updates are intended to modernize and improve security around submitting filings to the SEC and to improve filers’ access and account management capabilities. The updated system is called EDGAR Next. 

Who is impacted by the new EDGAR rules? Any entity or individual that uses EDGAR to make filings or seeks to start making filings is subject to the new rules. An EDGAR account is necessary to submit required filings to the SEC. For example, if you are planning to raise money for your small business from investors through the Regulation D safe harbors of the Securities Act, you would need to file a Form D on EDGAR for the entity raising the money and would need an EDGAR account to do so. 

What has changed?  

    • Authorized Individuals: Entities with an EDGAR account will need to authorize individuals to be responsible for managing those accounts on the new EDGAR Next dashboard. Only authorized individuals will be allowed to act on the entity’s behalf on EDGAR. These authorized individuals will replace the old system where each filer had access codes that were shared with multiple people, including third parties. 
    • Credentials to Log In: Authorized individuals must present credentials from the federal government’s login.gov service in order to access EDGAR accounts and make any filings. This allows every filing to be tracked to the person who submitted it. When creating login.gov credentials, you should use an email address that you plan to use for EDGAR purposes going forward to receive notices and know that it will appear visible to others.  
    • Small Business Exception: Each EDGAR filer must authorize at least two account administrators to manage its EDGAR account, unless the filer is an individual or a single-member company [1].
    • Maintenance Obligations: The filer’s account administrators must maintain accurate and current information on EDGAR, securely maintain all information necessary to access the account, and confirm annually on EDGAR that all authorized users reflected on the dashboard are authorized and all information is accurate.  
    • APIs: The SEC has also unveiled optional Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to allow filers to manage their EDGAR accounts with minimal manual interaction with EDGAR. If a filer chooses to connect to EDGAR APIs, it must authorize at least two technical administrators to manage it.  
    • Form ID Modernization: The Form ID process has been modernized to make it easier to use.  

What is the timeline for compliance with EDGAR Next? 

    • If you did not enroll prior to September 15, 2025, you must do so before you can make any filings.  
    • If you enroll prior to December 19, 2025, you will not need to submit a Form ID.  
    • After December 19, 2025, you will need to complete the full EDGAR Next application process, including submitting a Form ID to request access to your existing EDGAR accounts. You will not be able to make any filings until you have enrolled in EDGAR Next. 

Resources:

EDGAR Filer Access and Account Management: Small Entity Compliance Guide
FAQs About EDGAR Next
How Do I: Obtain Login.gov Individual Account Credentials 

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[1] “Single-member company” is a company that has a single individual acting as the sole equity holder, director, and officer (or equivalent positions).