Filings Guide
How to Read a 10-K for Structural Evidence
The 10-K is not a narrative document. It is a contractual disclosure record. ABSA treats it as a map of constraints: obligations, temporal distribution, and structural dependence. The purpose of this guide is to establish where admissible evidence resides and what the filing can and cannot justify.
ABSA does not provide investment recommendations. This guide is interpretive and evidence-oriented.
Doctrine
Evidence in a 10-K is hierarchical.
The primary error in reading filings is treating all sentences as equal. ABSA distinguishes between: (i) auditable statements, (ii) contractual disclosures, and (iii) managerial explanation. Only the first two categories can bear structural conclusions.
Tier I
Audited Financial Statements
Balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement, and statement of equity. These are structured and auditable. ABSA reads them as constraint summaries, not as performance banners.
Tier II
Notes and Contractual Disclosures
Debt maturities, lease commitments, contingencies, segment disclosures, revenue recognition, and risk factors. This is where hidden rigidity often resides.
Tier III
Management Discussion (MD&A)
Valuable for context, insufficient for proof. ABSA treats MD&A as explanation—never as a substitute for obligations, maturities, or hard constraints.
The Lexicon defines formal boundary conditions for interpretation and classification. This page provides a conceptual reading posture only.
Filing Map
Where structural evidence typically resides.
The sections below are not a checklist of “what to do.” They are a map of where the filing tends to disclose binding constraints. ABSA’s operational method determines how these disclosures are interpreted and governed.
Section
Debt and Credit Arrangements
Maturity ladders, interest terms, covenants, and refinancing concentration. Often the clearest disclosure of temporal constraint.
Section
Commitments and Contingencies
Obligations that behave like debt: leases, purchase commitments, litigation exposure, and structured obligations.
Section
Cash Flow Statement Construction
The bridge between accounting earnings and operational reality. ABSA reads cash flow for persistence and sufficiency under constraint.
Section
Revenue Recognition and Segment Notes
Useful for detecting interpretive fragility: where performance becomes dependent on accounting choice rather than structure.
Next filings modules (to be published): debt footnotes, cash flow interpretation, non-GAAP reconciliation.
Interpretive Governance
Evidence without definitions produces false certainty.
A filings guide can tell you where the evidence lives. It cannot govern meaning. ABSA governance—formal definitions, normalization, and classification constraints—resides exclusively in The Forensic Lexicon (Vol. I).
Distributed via Gumroad. Non-predictive. Filings-first doctrine.