--- title: "SEC Filing Dates: Calendar vs Fiscal Year" type: learn slug: calendar-year-vs-fiscal-year-sec-filings canonical_url: https://13finsight.com/learn/calendar-year-vs-fiscal-year-sec-filings published_at: 2026-06-20T09:07:31.256Z updated_at: 2026-06-20T09:07:35.363Z author: Sarah Mitchell author_title: Education Editor author_url: https://13finsight.com/authors/sarah-mitchell word_count: 1273 locale: en source: 13F Insight --- # SEC Filing Dates: Calendar vs Fiscal Year > A clear guide to why 13F report dates, company fiscal quarters, and filing deadlines can point to different time periods. A 13F quarter is not the same thing as every company's earnings quarter. For retail investors, that single distinction prevents a lot of bad timing reads: SEC Form 13F uses calendar quarter-end portfolio dates, while operating companies can report earnings on fiscal calendars that end in June, September, January, or another month. On 13F Insight, a quarter label such as Q1 2026 is calendar-aligned: it maps to a reportDate of March 31, 2026. The official Form 13F deadline for that quarter is May 15, 2026, but the portfolio snapshot is March 31. The deadline tells you when the manager had to file; the reportDate tells you what holdings date the filing describes. TL;DR Calendar year quarters end March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31. Fiscal year quarters follow a company's chosen accounting year, so fiscal Q1 may not be January through March. Form 13F is calendar-quarter based. Q1 2026 13F holdings mean positions as of March 31, 2026, even if a stock's issuer uses a different fiscal calendar. reportDate is the portfolio as-of date. filingDate is when the manager submitted the form, often weeks later. Calendar year vs fiscal year, in plain English A calendar year runs from January 1 through December 31. When most investors say “Q1 2026,” they usually mean January, February, and March 2026. That is the calendar-year convention. A fiscal year is an accounting year selected by a company. It still has four quarters, but they do not have to line up with the calendar year. A retailer might prefer a fiscal year that captures holiday sales in the same reporting period. A software company might close its fiscal year in June. The point is accounting comparability for that business, not convenience for outside investors. This is why a stock page and a filer page can feel like they are speaking different date languages. Microsoft (MSFT) has historically used a fiscal year ending in June, so its fiscal Q4 can cover April through June. Apple (AAPL) has historically used a fiscal year ending in September, so its fiscal Q1 can cover the holiday-heavy quarter ending in December. Those fiscal labels belong to the operating company. They do not change the calendar-quarter convention for Form 13F holdings. How Form 13F uses reportDate Form 13F is filed by institutional investment managers with at least $100 million in Section 13(f) securities. The SEC's Form 13F FAQ says managers file after calendar quarter ends, with the 2026 deadlines including May 15 for 1Q 2026, August 14 for 2Q 2026, November 16 for 3Q 2026, and February 16, 2027 for 4Q 2026. The important field for interpretation is reportDate. In 13F Insight, reportDate is the quarter-end date the filing covers. The shared quarter convention maps Q1 to March 31, Q2 to June 30, Q3 to September 30, and Q4 to December 31. That means Q1 2026 on a filer page is a March 31 portfolio snapshot, not a May portfolio and not the issuer's fiscal Q1. The 13F amendment guide is useful here because amended filings can arrive later, but even an amendment still points back to the same reportDate unless it corrects the holdings for that period. The common mismatch: manager calendar vs company fiscal calendar Suppose a manager reports owning Microsoft in its Q1 2026 13F. That means the manager held the position as of March 31, 2026. It does not mean Microsoft was in fiscal Q1 at that moment. Microsoft may be in a different fiscal quarter because its accounting year does not end in December. The same issue appears with Apple. A calendar Q1 2026 13F snapshot falls after Apple's holiday-quarter fiscal reporting period, but before later fiscal-year results. If you compare the 13F holding to Apple's earnings, product-cycle news, or guidance, match the dates carefully. The manager's reported position is anchored to March 31; the company's fiscal quarter label may refer to a different three-month period. This is also why 13F Insight uses calendar-aligned quarter URLs and labels for holdings history. The convention is built around the SEC portfolio report, not around each issuer's 10-Q or 10-K fiscal calendar. If you are comparing the same stock across managers, calendar alignment is what keeps the holder base comparable. The 45-day lag: deadline vs portfolio reality The 13F deadline creates a second timing trap. A Q1 2026 filing can be submitted as late as May 15, 2026, but the positions generally describe March 31, 2026. If a fund files on May 14, the filing is not a May 14 portfolio. It is a March 31 portfolio that became public in mid-May. That lag matters during volatile markets. A manager could buy more in April, sell in early May, or hedge with derivatives that are not visible in the same way. The 13F still tells you what the long U.S.-listed equity book looked like at quarter end. It does not promise that the position survived unchanged through the filing date. For a broader comparison of which investment-company reports answer which questions, see 13F vs N-PORT/N-Q. If the confusion is about identifiers rather than timing, the CUSIP vs ticker explainer covers why a filing may name a security differently from the ticker investors search. How to read Q1 2026 on 13F Insight Start with reportDate. For Q1 2026, read it as March 31, 2026. Separate filingDate from holdings date. A May filing deadline does not make the portfolio a May portfolio. Check the issuer's fiscal calendar separately. Microsoft, Apple, and many retailers can use fiscal periods that do not match calendar quarters. Avoid earnings-quarter shortcuts. “The fund bought during the company's fiscal Q3” may be true only after you map both calendars. Compare managers on the same calendar date. The value of 13F data is that every manager's Q1 snapshot points to the same quarter-end date. The clean mental model is simple: 13F Insight's quarter label answers “what did the institutional holder report at the calendar quarter end?” A company's fiscal quarter label answers “which accounting period did this operating company report?” Those are related, but they are not interchangeable. FAQ What is a fiscal year vs a calendar year? A calendar year runs from January 1 to December 31. A fiscal year is a company's chosen accounting year and can end in another month, such as June or September. When is Q1 for SEC 13F filings? For Form 13F, Q1 is the calendar quarter ending March 31. Q1 2026 therefore describes holdings as of March 31, 2026, not a company-specific fiscal quarter. Why do fiscal years end on different dates? Companies choose fiscal year ends that fit their business cycle, reporting needs, or industry seasonality. The choice helps operating results line up with how the business is managed. What does reportDate mean in 13F? reportDate is the portfolio as-of date for the 13F filing. On 13F Insight, it is the quarter-end date used to group holdings into Q1, Q2, Q3, or Q4. Can a company have a fiscal year that doesn't end on Dec 31? Yes. Many public companies use fiscal years that end outside December. That affects their 10-K and 10-Q labels, but it does not change Form 13F calendar-quarter reporting. Does the 45-day 13F deadline mean the portfolio is current? No. The deadline is when the manager must file. The holdings usually reflect the earlier quarter-end reportDate, so investors should treat the data as delayed. Why can Q1 2026 seem to describe January–March and still be filed in May? Because Form 13F separates the holdings period from the filing deadline. Q1 2026 positions are as of March 31, while the filing can arrive up to 45 days later. ## FAQ ### What is a fiscal year vs a calendar year? A calendar year runs from January 1 to December 31. A fiscal year is a company's chosen accounting year and can end in another month, such as June or September. ### When is Q1 for SEC 13F filings? For Form 13F, Q1 is the calendar quarter ending March 31. Q1 2026 describes holdings as of March 31, 2026, not a company-specific fiscal quarter. ### Why do fiscal years end on different dates? Companies choose fiscal year ends that fit their business cycle, reporting needs, or industry seasonality. The choice helps operating results line up with how the business is managed. ### What does reportDate mean in 13F? reportDate is the portfolio as-of date for the 13F filing. On 13F Insight, it is the quarter-end date used to group holdings into Q1, Q2, Q3, or Q4. ### Can a company have a fiscal year that doesn't end on Dec 31? Yes. Many public companies use fiscal years that end outside December. That affects their 10-K and 10-Q labels, but it does not change Form 13F calendar-quarter reporting. ### Does the 45-day 13F deadline mean the portfolio is current? No. The deadline is when the manager must file. The holdings usually reflect the earlier quarter-end reportDate, so investors should treat the data as delayed. ### Why can Q1 2026 seem to describe January–March and still be filed in May? Because Form 13F separates the holdings period from the filing deadline. Q1 2026 positions are as of March 31, while the filing can arrive up to 45 days later. --- Source: 13F Insight — https://13finsight.com/learn/calendar-year-vs-fiscal-year-sec-filings Author: Sarah Mitchell — https://13finsight.com/authors/sarah-mitchell Last updated: 2026-06-20T09:07:35.363Z