Processes of going public by voluntarily following the rules that public companies follow and filing the documents they file. By self-filing, a private company seeks a public trading exchange to float its securities by completing its own filings with the relevant authority either to resell securities held by shareholders or to voluntarily become a reporting company. More specifically, If a company chooses a form S-1 filing, shares of the company and its shareholders can be registered for resale. On the contrary, a form 10 filing means the company would be subject to relevant public information reporting requirements only, without having any shares registered. A form S-1 would have to be filed following a form 10 if a company seeks to register shares for public investors to effect a trading market beyond any non-restricted shares held then by shareholders.

Self-filings are also known as direct public offerings.