3.1.2 Reporting Restated Values in the Face of the Financials

Issue

In a number of cases, companies have been reporting financial statements with a column heading of “Restated.”  However, not all of the numbers actually reported are restated numbers.

Discussion

If the prior numbers are reported in the financial report. they should be dimensionally qualified with the ScenarioPreviouslyReportedMember when it is necessary to differentiate it from a restated amount.  The restated items should be footnoted to indicate that they are restated amounts if footnoted in the face financial statements.  The extension RestatedMember should not be used. In the XBRL instance document, it is assumed that the default value is the restated amount if it differs from a previously reported amount for the same period.

A RestatedMember should generally not appear in a company filing as it represents the defaulted value.

Recommendation

In those situations where a column in a financial reported is categorized as “Restated,” the filer should footnote those items that are actually restated with an XBRL footnote.  In the detailed footnotes (or face) where the previously reported number and associated adjustments are disclosed, the filer should use the ScenarioPreviouslyReportedMember and RestatementAdjustmentMember to distinguish these amounts from the restated numbers in the current financial report.