Resources for Obtaining Annual Reports & SEC filings | Historical Annual Reports & Filings

Financial Data from SEC filings & Annual Reports

There are numerous forms that companies must file with the SEC.   A complete list of SEC filings is available at the Securities Exchange Commission website.

*Annual reports are provided only if the company chooses to file them with the SEC.

• Bloomberg
  Business Electronic Resources (Library Use Only)
  Bloomberg contains EDGAR filings. To get a list of a company's EDGAR filings, type: "[ticker symbol] <EQUITY> <GO>" . Bloomberg has filings back to 1993.
• Company Home Pages
  One of the best places to find a company's annual reports and filings is that company's home page. Most public companies have an "investor relations" page on their website that provides annual report(s) and/or SEC filings.
• EDGAR: The Official Securities Exchange Commission filings database
  EDGAR is the key database for SEC filings; almost all financial, operations, and ownership data is derived from documents in the EDGAR database. The Securities Exchange Commission's Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system (EDGAR), performs automated collection, validation, indexing, acceptance, and forwarding of SEC filings. Not all documents filed with the Commission by public companies are available on EDGAR; for example, filings by foreign companies are not required to be filed on EDGAR, but some of these companies do so voluntarily.
• Factiva
  Full-text database providing timely and detailed facts, figures and analyses of companies, industries and financial markets. Includes industry and trade publications, news sources, and company and market data. Coverage varies by source.
  
• Thomson Research
  Thomson Research contains real-time and historical SEC EDGAR filings, scanned images of company annual reports and foreign exchange filings.

The Business and Economics Library has on microfiche Annual Reports to Stockholders, 10Ks, Prospectuses and Proxies for NYSE and ASE companies.  They are filed alphabetically in the cabinets with the red discs in the microforms area, first floor. Both microfiche readers and reader/printers are located in this area.

Please consult the Excel finding aid for a list of companies and available reports. 

In general the follow years and filings are available:

• Annual Reports to Stockholders
  NYSE or ASE companies from 1969 to Fall 1994
• 10Ks
  NYSE or ASE from 1969 to Fall 1994
• Prospectuses
  NYSE or ASE companies from 1983 through 1992
• Proxies
  NYSE companies from 1985 to 1999
  

For annual reports before 1934, consult the library's collection of Historical Corporate Annual Reports.  Columbia University's Watson Library of Business and Economics owns a unique collection of historical annual reports.  The majority of the reports predate the 1934 Securities Exchange Act which regulated and standardized reporting.

The reports were written for and disseminated to stockholders and the public. While many reports were published, there was no requirement that they be produced or adhere to a particular format.

The 4,482 corporations whose reports comprise the collection represent most of the industries that were instrumental in the creation of early industrialized America.

All reports are housed in Columbia University Libraries' off-site facility. To request a report:

1. Open Excel finding aid and find the company in the list
2. Write down the barcode associated with the company
3. Call or visit the Business and Economics Library to request the report from off-site [barcode is needed]*
   Telephone: (212) 854-7804 or e-mail.
   

*Reports must be requested in advance and be used in the library.

 Please note that access policies for Columbia University Libraries differ for non-affiliates.

Compact Disclosure
Business Reserves [HG4028 B2 C61]
Compact Disclosure contains extensive financial information (balance sheets, income statement, footnotes), and the president’s letter and management discussion, extracted from the annual reports, 10Ks., 10Qs, etc., of companies that file with the SEC and produce goods or services. Data contained in Compact Disclosure can be downloaded to a disk, either as a text file or into a spreadsheet program. You can also sort and screen by various criteria.

Worldscope
Business Reserves [HG4050 D571]
Contains basic financial information on public companies worldwide; international equivalent to Compact Disclosure. Data contained in Worldscope can be downloaded to a disk, either as a text file or into a spreadsheet program. You can also sort and screen by various criteria.