Invalid External Reference EDGAR Error
Invalid external hyperlinks may cause EDGAR errors that must be resolved prior to filing.
INVALID_INLINE_TAG
([EFM.5.02.05.externalReference] InlineXBRL has an invalid external reference in 'href' for <a>: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/764478.htm).
In iXBRL, the external reference error may come from a link to an sec.gov page other than an exhibit, as shown below. It may also come from:
- a link to another external site, such as your company website.
- an exhibit hyperlink to a previously filed exhibit that begins with https:// rather than http://.
ERR: INVALID_EXTERNAL_REFERENCE
MSG: ...improper external reference ... HREF tag cannot contain a path delimiter.
The Invalid External Reference error most often occurs when a hyperlink in the HTML points to an address on the SEC site that is not a previously filed exhibit (which all begin with "http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/")
Causes
The most common cause of the error is a hyperlink to an SEC page other than an exhibit, such as:
- sec.gov
- www.sec.gov
- http://www.sec.gov
- http://www.sec.gov/investor/alerts/votingrules2010.htm
These hyperlinks may have been unintentionally created in the text by the AutoCorrect feature in Word.
Other causes of this error include:
- hyperlinks to external websites
- hyperlinks to the secure exhibit address (starting with https://)
Determine Which Report
The hyperlink may be in either your main report or one of the exhibits. To determine which report to search, review the file name listed in the error message. In the example above, notice the file name ends in 10k.htm, indicating that the issue is with the 10-K.
Remove the Invalid Reference
To locate and remove it:
- Press Ctrl+F to open the Navigation pane, then search for "sec.gov" or another part of the address listed in the EDGAR error.
- Right-click on the text (even if it does not appear blue or like a hyperlink), and select Remove Hyperlink.
- Test file again to confirm the error is cleared.