Issued: March 25, 2011
Impact: All US GAAP

Issue

The parent company member should only be used to record the financial details of the parent holding company.  A reporting entity could either report the value of the consolidated entity or the financials of the holding company as a standalone entity.  In a number of cases, we have identified entities that have reported the values for the consolidated entity using the parent company member. When reporting consolidated information, the filer should use the default value of the legal entity axis.

This problem is particularly prevalent in real estate trusts.  For example, the element MinorityInterest should not have a value disclosed at the intersection with the ParentCompanyMember on the LegalEntityAxis.  The EDGAR Filer Manual 6.6.3 states that the default reflects the value of the consolidated entity for the entity named in the context.

Recommendation

Only use the ParentCompanyMember to record financial information that relates to the Parent Holding Company and not the consolidated entity. The element ParentMember used on the StatementEquityComponentsAxis represents the portion of equity that is attributed to the parent, i.e., it excludes noncontrolling interest.

Further guidance is provided in Distinction between Parent Company Member and Parent Member.