# Where the data comes from

> The SEC and BLS sources behind each dataset, how a figure keeps its filing, and how fresh each dataset is.

Everything the API serves comes from official sources: company figures from filings on the SEC's EDGAR system, and two macro series from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. We don't buy data from other vendors, and we don't fill gaps with estimates. When a figure can't be settled from the filings, it's left out.

## Sources by dataset

| Dataset | Source | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| [Metrics](/datasets/metrics/) | SEC Company Facts | Every XBRL figure each company has filed, in one file per company. |
| [Statements](/datasets/statements/), [Financials](/datasets/financials/), [Segments](/datasets/segments/) | SEC Financial Statement Data Sets | The SEC's quarterly extract of the financial statements in periodic filings. |
| [Insider trades](/datasets/insider-trades/) | SEC Forms 3, 4 and 5 data sets | Transactions reported by officers, directors and large holders. |
| [Form 13F holdings](/datasets/form-13f/), [Holders](/datasets/holders/) | SEC Form 13F data sets | Holdings reported by institutional investment managers. Holders also uses Schedules 13D and 13G and the SEC's official list of 13(f) securities to link each holding to a company. |
| [Ownership](/datasets/ownership/) | SEC Schedules 13D and 13G | Structured filings by large holders, from 2024-12-18. |
| [Filings](/datasets/filings/) | SEC submissions | Each company's list of filings. |
| [Earnings releases](/datasets/earnings-releases/) | SEC 8-K filings with Item 2.02 | The press-release exhibit furnished with the filing, since 2024-01-01. |
| [Company](/datasets/company/) | SEC ticker file and filer records | Names, tickers, CIKs and fiscal year ends. |
| [Macro](/datasets/macro/) | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics | CPI and the unemployment rate. |

## How a figure keeps its filing

Every figure can be traced to the filing it came from:

- **Metrics** carry `source` (accession, EDGAR link, form and filing date) and `first_reported` (the first filing to report the same period, and its value). A quarter we computed carries both filed figures in `operands` instead.
- **Statements, segments, insider trades, 13F holdings, ownership and filings** carry the filing's `accession`, and most carry its `filing_url` on EDGAR.
- **Financials** carry `source_accession` and the XBRL `tag` of the printed line.
- **Earnings releases** carry the filing's `accession`, its `filing_url` and the exhibit's `exhibit_url` on EDGAR.
- **Macro** points carry the BLS `source_url` they were read from.

An accession number such as `0000000000-00-000000` identifies one SEC filing. To open it, follow `filing_url`, or look it up in [Filings](/datasets/filings/).

## What we do to the figures

As little as we can, and we say when we do:

- **Values are as filed.** A blank in a filing is `null`, never 0. Statements keep the sign the company tagged in `value`, and the sign it displays in `display_value`.
- **When filings disagree,** metrics follow written rules: which filing is the company's own, which figure is a thousand times off, which tag is a sub-line. Every time a rule changes a figure, the point lists it in `adjustments`. The rules are on [Metrics](/datasets/metrics/#adjustments) and [Known limits](/known-limits/#metrics).
- **When we can't tell,** we leave the figure out. Holders are linked to a company only when two independent pieces of evidence agree.
- **Restatements replace earlier figures.** The API serves the current reading. `first_reported` shows what was first filed for a metric; there's no history of other versions.

## How fresh it is

- **Metrics** arrive the morning after the SEC publishes its Company Facts file.
- **Statements** can lag by about a quarter. The SEC publishes its data sets once a quarter: the 2026q3 set holds filings accepted through 2026-09-30, and it was posted on 2026-10-07. A filing accepted just after a set closes waits for the next one, about 14 weeks at that timing. So a company's metrics can be a quarter ahead of its statements.
- **Every dataset** reports its own `as_of` and age on `/v1/status`, and every answer carries `meta.as_of`.

## Not affiliated with the SEC

Data is derived from filings on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's EDGAR system. Belfort is not affiliated with or endorsed by the SEC. Macro data comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which asks that it be cited as the source. This is data, not investment advice.

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Source: https://docs.belfortagent.xyz/data-sources/