Quarterly Compliance: 2026 Filing Roadmap for RIAs

Filing season runs year-round for RIAs. While many advisors associate compliance with a few big annual deadlines, the reality is a bit more demanding. For time-pressed firms, especially new or scaling teams, staying on top of these obligations isn’t just good governance. It is essential to avoid costly oversights.

A missed deadline can cause deficiency letters, incomplete audits and tarnished reputation. In this article we will break down the 2026 compliance calendar by quarter and give insight into important deadlines, the most common hurdles and some effective practices to make your life easier.

Q1: Start Strong

January through to March includes several of the most critical compliance deadlines of the year. It’s also when many RIAs reassess their infrastructure, staffing, and third-party relationships.

Key Deadlines and Tasks

• Form ADV Annual Amendment (Due: March 31). RIAs must file updated information with the SEC and relevant states, covering everything from AUM and fee structures to disciplinary actions and affiliated relationships.
• Note: This deadline applies to firms with a December 31 fiscal year-end. If your firm uses a different fiscal year, the deadline is 90 days after your fiscal year ends.
• Annual Compliance Review. Required under Rule 206(4)-7, this internal review must assess policy adequacy and implementation effectiveness. It is not submitted, but must be well-documented and available during exams. Under the August 2023 rule update, the annual review must now be documented in writing, not just conducted.
• Form 13F (Due: February 14). Required for firms with discretion over $100 million in securities. Accuracy and timeliness are critical, and misreporting can result in SEC inquiries.
• Employee Personal Trading Reports. Year-end holdings and annual certifications must be collected and reviewed.

Considerations

Firms should make it a number one priority to align their compliance calendar with business goals. Ensure ADV documentation is properly filed away, employee trades are being monitored frequently, vendors are up to date on cybersecurity practices, and adjustments are made to supervisory procedures if needed. Additionally, briefing senior management on compliance priorities is a must at this point in the year.

Start your year off on the right foot, by implementing new technology infrastructure into your compliance procedures. RIA Compliance Technology is where you will find everything you need to streamline your compliance process from the start; so you won’t have to worry about it later.

Q2: Mid-Year Monitoring and Maintenance

April through June is often overlooked from a compliance perspective, but it presents a key opportunity to reinforce oversight and perform internal audits before exam season begins.

Key Deadlines and Tasks

Marketing Compliance Reviews: Confirm that performance data, testimonials, and social media use are appropriately documented and disclosed.

• Email Archive Reviews: Conduct random audits of archived communications to verify policy adherence and spot risks.
• Cybersecurity Risk Assessment: The SEC continues to prioritize cybersecurity for RIAs. Q2 is an ideal time to test incident response plans, review vendor protocols, and ensure employees are trained to handle phishing threats.
• Training Sessions: Host refresher courses for employees on the code of ethics, privacy obligations, and data handling.
• REG S-P Update: Most firms will require an update to their compliance manual about new Reg S-P cybersecurity breach notifications by June 3, 2026.
• Updating REG S-P should be a purposeful, documented refresh, not a checkbox. Work with your compliance team to review how your firm collects, uses, shares, and safeguards client information; and update your written privacy and safeguarding procedures to match actual practices, including vendor oversight, training, and incident response. If you are needing a second set of eyes or a faster path to an exam-ready update, give us a call and we can connect you with an independent compliance consultant at your convenience.

Considerations

Q2 is where you set yourself up for success throughout the rest of the year. With minimal filing submissions and exam season around the corner, it is the perfect time to tick off items from the checklist.

Exam season does not need to be daunting, with the right procedures in place, and supporting technology that streamlines the compliance process from days to hours, audits come and go without stress. Finding the right compliance technology for your firm is a great way to keep your team on track and ready to go when audit season comes around.

Q3: Audit Season Begins

July through September tends to be the most exam-heavy period of the year. This is when we tend to see firms that have not proactively maintained records scrambling to pull it all together at the last minute.

Key Deadlines and Tasks

• Form 13F (Due: August 14). This filing recurs quarterly for eligible firms. Ensure consistency across filings and that portfolio holdings match internal records.
• Quarterly Personal Trade Reviews. Supervisory review logs should show that trades were monitored, conflicts reviewed, and necessary follow-ups conducted.
• Policy Reconciliation and Updates. If new services or strategies have been introduced, ensure your procedures, ADV, and marketing materials reflect those changes.

Considerations

Oftentimes, at this stage firms will receive SEC or state audit notices. Ensure your archive systems, compliance logs, and checklists are complete and date-stamped to make your life easier when the notices roll in.

A well-organized digital compliance trail can limit the scope and duration of an exam; making your life a lot easier, and boosting your firm's reputation.

Q4: Year-End Wrap-Up and Strategic Reset

October through December often feels like a sprint to the finish. However, it is also your last chance to close gaps, tie up loose ends, and prepare for a smooth start to the new year.

Key Deadlines and Tasks

• Form CRS Amendments. If your firm has changed services, fees, or experienced any disciplinary events, your Form CRS must be updated and re-delivered. If material changes occur, the updated Form CRS must be filed and delivered to clients within 30 days.
• Annual Privacy Notice Distribution. Required under Regulation S-P for all firms with nonpublic personal information. In June 2024, the SEC adopted new amendments requiring RIAs to establish formal policies for data safeguarding and incident response as part of their Regulation S-P obligations.
• Compliance Certifications. Ensure employees have acknowledged policies and completed annual training modules, along with required attestations, which are signed confirmations of policy review.
• Pre-Draft ADV Update. Begin collecting data for your March ADV amendment. Doing this early helps avoid a Q1 bottleneck.

Considerations

Consider hosting a compliance debrief with senior staff to discuss lessons learned, changes in regulation, and what tools or partners may be needed for the year ahead.

Ensure advisors are completing their required continued education courses [get 10% WebCE courses through RIA Compliance Technology].

For growing firms, Q4 is a good time to assess whether your current systems can scale with your operations. If the answer is no, start looking into scalable options to maintain productivity as you grow in 2027.

Common Pitfalls in Compliance Tracking

No matter how experienced the firm, there are common areas where compliance calendars fall short:

• Over-Reliance on Manual Tools. Spreadsheets and static checklists can be useful but often lead to missed reminders, lost documentation, or incomplete task tracking.
• Staff Turnover. Key compliance responsibilities may fall through the cracks when roles change, especially if processes are not centralized.
• One-Off Fixes. Firms often patch issues after an exam without building a sustainable system to prevent recurrence.
• Lack of Calendar Ownership. Compliance officers cannot do it alone. Without clear task assignments and cross-team accountability, even the best calendars go underutilized.

Best Practices for Compliance Deadlines Tracking

To truly improve compliance outcomes, firms should move beyond remembering the date. They need systems that ensure tasks are assigned, completed, and documented without relying on memory or scattered inboxes.

Implementing Better Systems

• Use Compliance Management Software. Tools like RIA Compliance Technology are purpose-built for smaller advisory teams. Not only do they centralize key activities from email archiving and policy versioning to calendar alerts and workflow tracking; they are highly scalable as your firm grows.
• Assign Ownership by Role. Every recurring task should be owned by a specific team member, with a backup. This eliminates confusion and ensures accountability.
• Keep a Rolling 12-Month Calendar. This helps identify seasonal peaks and allows for resource planning, especially during audit or renewal seasons.
• Link Tasks to Regulatory Requirements. When every calendar entry is backed by the relevant rule or SEC citation, it reinforces the why and strengthens exam readiness.
• Automate Attestation Tracking. Annual training, certifications, and acknowledgments should be systematized to reduce risk and maintain a complete audit trail.

Start Planning Ahead, Now.

Many firms delay investing in compliance technology out of fear it will be expensive or difficult to use. With the right solutions, the opposite is true.

Modern RegTech platforms are designed to reduce time spent chasing signatures, scheduling reminders, and formatting documentation. Rather than managing compliance in pieces, firms can use comprehensive dashboards to monitor what is complete, what is due, and what is at risk.

For growing RIAs, technology enhances consistency. Whether onboarding new advisors, adding clients, or expanding into new jurisdictions, a scalable compliance platform ensures you won’t outgrow your controls.

The best way to manage the year ahead? Schedule a FREE demonstration to see how RIA Compliance Technology helps RIAs track their filings, simplify supervision, and avoid compliance mistakes before they happen.