They know just how rapidly it’s becoming practically a necessity on the job. But who has the time?  And even if you do have the time, do you really understand how to navigate the social web successfully? How to generate meaningful business results from social media? And what content you need to drive your social media efforts?

________________________________________

OneSource and Nowspeed are teaming up to present a series of three webinars on key social media topics:

* 5 Social Media Tools for Your Business

* Content Creation for Social Media

* Social Media Optimization for Your Website

________________________________________

Register for 5 Social Media Tools for Your Business

In the course of one hour, Sham Sao, Dave Reske and Bob Cargill will demonstrate how to leverage some of today’s most popular social media tools. You’ll first learn what’s in it for those businesses who understand how to take advantage of these exciting, new communications channels, platforms and properties. You’ll then learn the steps you need to take to use a blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Delicious to position yourself and others in your organization as knowledge leaders, community builders and people everyone will want to faithfully follow.

Visit the Social Media Webinar Series Microsite for More Information on Each of the Sessions. After each webinar, an on-demand link will be posted, so content will be available at your convenience.

Recent financial scandals have once again highlighted the importance of corporate transparency and the need for companies to provide accurate and complete financial reporting.  In the United States, public companies are required by law to electronically submit filings to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) system.  Also subject to filing requirements are

• American Depository Receipts (ADRs) – Non-US firms that are listed on US exchanges (e.g. Vodafone and SAP).
• Relevant Shareholders – Officers, directors and owners of at least 5 percent of an equity class
• Investment Companies – Investment vehicles such as mutual funds and investment trusts.

Although the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has required filings since the 1930’s, electronic submissions to EDGAR began in 1995.  Defunct and merged company filings are also available.  ADRs were not required to file electronically until November 2002. 

Submission time frames vary by form.  For example, 10-K forms (annual reports) must be submitted within 90 days of the fiscal year end, but 10-Q forms (quarterly reports) are due within 45 days (10-K submissions are audited but 10-Q filings are not).  Larger firms are subject to accelerated 10-K filing rules of either 60 or 75 days.

Key Filings

Dozens of form types have been defined by the SEC. Key forms include the following:

• 10-K      Annual Report
• 10-Q     Quarterly Report
• 20-F      Foreign Issuers’ Annual Report
• 8-K       Current (“Material Changes”) Report covering bankruptcies, mergers,  changes in auditors, asset sales beyond ordinary business events, etc.
• 6-K       Foreign Issuers’ Current Report
• 14A       Proxy Statements detailing normal events in a company along with mergers & acquisitions, contested solicitations, and special meetings
• S           Registration Form
• 3/4/5   Security ownership and transaction reports filed by corporate insiders
• 144       Notice of proposed sale of restricted securities

Searching EDGAR

EDGAR filings are available directly from the EDGAR website or from several EDGAR vendors.  The EDGAR website provides limited filing search by company name, ticker, or CIK (EDGAR identifiers).  Full text searching is also available.

EDGAR Full Text Searching

More advanced searching and screening tools are available through commercial services.  These services also provide filings in alternate formats (e.g. Word, Excel, PDF), superior result display (e.g. individual filer names on insider trading forms, 8-K Event Types, etc.) and extracted content reports (e.g. shareholders and company profiles).  They have even begun to provide XBRL filing formats for corporate financials.

Advanced EDGAR Screening in OneSource Business Browser (via 10k Wizard)

According to The Irish Times (28 January 2009):

ICC said net worth was an important indication of the value of a company as it is composed primarily of all the money that has been invested in the business since its inception as well as retained earnings for the duration of its operation.

‘Negative net worth is important as it can be used to determine the creditworthiness of companies because it gives a snapshot of a company’s investment history,’ said ICC Information head of business and development Michael Gannon.

‘As we enter more challenging times it is important to understand exactly who you should be extending credit to and therefore decreasing your probability of incurring bad debt.

‘Despite this, it is necessary for companies to differentiate between having a negative net worth and the ability to meet obligations as they fall.’

Fortunately, European financial reporting requirements are stricter than the US.  Many countries have regional or national registrars where firms meeting minimum size requirements must annually file their financials, directorships, and shareholdings.  This transparency helps potential partners, clients, and vendors asses the creditworthiness of European firms.  In the case of ICC Information, they reviewed financials filed with the Irish Companies Registration Office (CRO).

European financial data is often available through national registrars, credit research companies, and business information services such as OneSource.

Irish Balance Sheet with Negative Net Worth