You’ve compiled your holdings data, built your XML file, and headed to the EDGAR submission portal — only to be greeted by a cryptic validation error that sends you back to square one. Sound familiar?
EDGAR’s 13F validation is unforgiving by design. The SEC requires that submissions conform precisely to its XML schema. Any deviation — a column out of order, a CUSIP with a leading zero stripped away, a market value expressed as a decimal — will result in a rejection with little guidance on where things went wrong.
Over years of working with RIAs, compliance firms, and EDGAR filing agents, our team at File|13F has catalogued the most frequent errors advisors encounter. Here are the five that cause the most pain — and exactly how to resolve them.
Error 1: Incorrect XML Schema Structure
The SEC’s 13F information table XML has a precise structure — specific elements must appear in a specific order, with specific data types. If your columns are out of sequence, or if an element is nested incorrectly, EDGAR will reject the file outright. This often happens when advisors try to build the XML manually from a spreadsheet export, or when they use older templates that don’t match the current schema specification.
The Fix: Download the current XML schema from the SEC at sec.gov/info/edgar/quick-reference/13f-xml-information-table.pdf and rebuild your information table from scratch. Never assume the column order from a prior year’s filing is still valid — the SEC occasionally updates the schema.
Error 2: CUSIP Formatting Issues
CUSIPs are 9-character alphanumeric identifiers — and many of them begin with a zero. This creates a hidden trap for anyone working in Excel: the moment you open a CSV or raw data file without pre-formatting, Excel will silently convert leading-zero CUSIPs into numbers or scientific notation. A CUSIP like 023135106 can become 23135106 (dropping the leading zero) or even 2.31E+07 — both of which will fail EDGAR’s CUSIP validation.
The Fix: Always format your CUSIP column as text before importing data into Excel. If working with a CSV, use Excel’s import wizard and explicitly set the CUSIP column to “Text” type. Once Excel converts a CUSIP to scientific notation, it cannot be reversed — you must re-import from the original source.
Error 3: Non-Round Market Values
The SEC requires that market values on Form 13F be reported in thousands of dollars, rounded to the nearest thousand. Decimal values in the market value field — even something as minor as 1234.56 instead of 1235 — will fail validation. This error is particularly common when firms pull data directly from custodian reports that export market values with full decimal precision.
The Fix: After pulling your market values, apply a rounding step that converts each figure to an integer in thousands. In Excel, this is =ROUND(A2/1000,0). Make this a standard step in your data preparation workflow, not an afterthought.
Error 4: Reporting Securities Not on the 13F List
The SEC publishes a quarterly list of Section 13(f) securities — and only securities on that list should be reported. Including positions in securities that don’t appear on the current quarterly list (such as open-end mutual funds, foreign equities not listed on a U.S. exchange, or recently delisted securities) can create a file that EDGAR accepts but which is nonetheless non-compliant and subject to SEC inquiry.
The Fix: Always cross-reference your full holdings list against the SEC’s current-quarter 13F securities list before building your XML. The list is available at sec.gov/divisions/investment/13flists.htm and is updated each quarter.
Error 5: Incorrect Issuer Name or Title of Class
The “issuer name” and “title of class” fields on the 13F information table must match the SEC’s own data. Advisors who manually enter these fields — or copy them from a prior year’s filing — often end up with outdated or abbreviated names that don’t match current EDGAR reference data.
The Fix: Source your issuer names and title of class values directly from the SEC’s current 13F securities list for the applicable quarter. This is exactly what File|13F’s software does automatically — pulling the SEC-preferred format from the source list rather than relying on advisor-entered names.
The safest 13F filings start with the SEC’s quarterly securities list and work backward from there — matching your holdings to the list, not appending the list to your holdings. For full details on our process, visit our Our Process page or contact us today.