Financial statement requirements can surprise US public companies seeking to access the capital markets or to register shares in connection with acquisitions. Fully compliant 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K reporting can be inadequate. Before the company can register or offer securities, it may have to file new or updated financial statements. The relevant rules and market conventions are quite technical and not always intuitive, but understanding them is critical for successfully planning and executing transactions. We explore some of these triggers in a series of brief publications. In this first installment, we provide an overview.