Accelerated filer is a class of reporting company which has shorter deadlines to file their periodic reports.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Rule 12b-2 establishes the requirements that a company must satisfy to qualify as an accelerated filer. It requires that the company has a public float of between $75 million and $700 million, has been filing periodic reports for at least 12 months, has previously filed at least one annual report (e.g. Form 10-K), and is not a smaller reporting company.
Once a company satisfies the requirements of Rule 12b-2, then they have 75 days to file their Form 10-K and 40 days to file their Form 10-Q.
[Last updated in February of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team]