Member Values

Rule function

The FASB has defined certain members, when used on a given axis, that cannot be tagged with a value. This rule identifies facts with a given axis and member that cannot be tagged with a value irrespective of the line item used.

Basis for rule

The FASB implementation guide for retirement benefits published in 2017 states the following:

The “Domestic Plan [Member]” element is not intended to be used in the instance document, instead the specific country from the SEC’s Country Taxonomy is intended to tag the information (for example, country:US, country:CA, country:GB).

This applies to the 2017 taxonomy and any taxonomies going forward.

Problem solved by the rule

In a number of cases the US GAAP taxonomy defines members that are intended to be used for organizational purposes on an axis. These members allow children to be grouped under the member. For example, the DomesticPlanMember is used on the RetirementPlanSponsorLocationAxis to act as a parent member for specific countries.  The rule checks that these header members are not used to tag values.

Example rule message

The element Assets with a value of $456,789 has been used with the axis Retirement Plan Sponsor Location [Axis] and the member Domestic Plan [Member]. The Domestic Plan [Member] element is not intended to be used in the instance document, instead the specific country from the SEC’s Country Taxonomy is intended to tag the information.

The properties of this us-gaap:Assets fact are:
Period : 2015-11-01
Dimensions : RetirementPlanSponsorLocationAxis = Domestic PlanMember
Unit : USD
Rule version : 5.0

For Developers

The Global Rule Logic document contains general guidelines for implementation of rules.

The rule message template contains text and parametric reference to arguments of the rule operation, using the syntax ${parameter} to indicate that insertion of a parameter’s value is to occur.

Message template

The element ${fact1.label} with a value of ${fact1.value} has been used with the axis ${fact1.axis.label} and the member ${fact1.member.label}. The ${fact1.member.label} element is not intended to be used in the instance document, instead the specific country from the SEC’s Country Taxonomy is intended to tag the information.

The properties of this ${fact1.name} fact are:
Period: ${fact1.period}
Dimensions: ${fact1.dimensions}
Unit: ${fact1.unit}
Rule version: ${ruleVersion}

Rule element ID index

The rule element id is used to identify unique elements or combinations of elements tested in the rule.