I have admittedly reached a stage of my life where technology, for all of its many benefits, has become a persistent burden. I am bombarded with requests to update my hundreds of passwords in accordance with ever-increasing complexity standards, implement two-factor authentication, check multiple devices for authentication codes, download numerous authentication apps and avoid phishing emails like the plague. My rational mind recognizes that we live in an extraordinarily active cybersecurity threat environment, and all of these requests are prompted by a genuine desire to protect me from the bad guys. My irrational mind (which is prone to screaming “get off my lawn,” but only to myself) feels under siege as a result of this avalanche of protective measures, and inevitably encourages me to unplug and retreat to somewhere off the grid, where the oppressive cybersecurity infrastructure would leave me alone to whittle sticks and churn butter.

It is against this complicated emotional backdrop that many of us received the news of the SEC’s EDGAR Next initiative at around this time last year. As we note in the July-August 2025 issue of The Corporate Executive:

EDGAR Next replaces the current approach of utilizing EDGAR access codes to file on EDGAR with a more secure, two-factor authentication access security system. EDGAR Next generally limits filing access to persons specifically authorized by the filer and requires everyone that accesses the EDGAR filing system to have individual login credentials that are supplied by the U.S. federal government’s Login.gov service. The enhanced EDGAR Next security facilitates the tracing of every filing to the specific individual who made the filing.

While we knew that this significant change in approach was ultimately good for us, the prospect of migrating filers to the new EDGAR Next platform rightfully seemed daunting, and inspired a sort of Y2K-style panic in some quarters of the filer community. While the SEC gave us a generous year-long transition period, that somehow did not seem like enough time in our collective irrational minds for herding the appropriate cats to accomplish the objective. For a variety of reasons, the transition was not always easy. As Liz noted in this blog from June, a post on the Q&A Forum described the transition as “truly horrendous,” citing persistent system problems, delays and issues dealing with an overwhelmed SEC Staff.

For those of you who may have been off-grid whittling sticks of churning butter for the past year, we reached a major EDGAR Next milestone last Friday, and at least anecdotally it seems that generally the filer community has made the transition without too much drama. Legacy access to the SEC’s EDGAR filing system ended at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time last Friday, and as of Monday morning this week, the SEC’s EDGAR Next filing platform is the exclusive means to electronically file documents with the SEC. As we noted in our last-minute EDGAR guide in the latest issue of The Corporate Executive:

There is no reason to panic if you have somehow missed the EDGAR Next train so far this year, but now is the time to enroll. The enrollment period for EDGAR Next opened on March 24, 2025, and will remain open until December 19, 2025. During this time, filers can avail themselves of the SEC’s short-form enrollment process that does not require the submission of a power of attorney or a notarized Form ID, and instead just requires the submission of basic contact information and the designation of initial account administrators for the filer’s EDGAR account. The enrollment process does require Staff action, but such action typically occurs promptly following submission of the required information.

It is important to note, however, that those existing filers who have not completed the EDGAR Next transition process by 10 p.m. ET on Friday, September 12, 2025, will no longer have access to the EDGAR system as of 6 a.m. ET on Monday, September 15, 2025. Therefore, to avoid any interruption in a filer’s access to the EDGAR system, it is advisable to complete the enrollment process before the September 12 cut-off date.

Even if a filer misses the September 12 deadline, filers with their current EDGAR access codes could still complete the streamlined enrollment process before December 19 and obtain their EDGAR Next filing credentials in a timely manner to then reestablish their ability to submit filings on EDGAR; however, filers that do not have access to their EDGAR access codes, including the passphrase, will need to follow the long-form Form ID process before making any electronic filings.

In our last-minute guide in The Corporate Executive, we offer some suggestions for what to do now if somehow you missed the EDGAR Next boat as the final December 19 deadline approaches. It you do not have access to all of the practical guidance that we provide in The Corporate Executive, I encourage you to give it a try – during the first 100 days as an activated member, you may cancel for any reason and receive a full refund. To subscribe to this essential resource, please email info@ccrcorp.com or call 1.800.737.1271.

– Dave Lynn