Financial Data Transparency Act (FDTA)

On December 23, 2022, President Biden signed into law H.R. 7776, the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 which includes TITLE LVIII, the Financial Data Transparency Act (FDTA). The FDTA calls for the use of data standards by member agencies of the U.S. Financial Stability Oversight Council, including U.S. Treasury, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB), the Federal Reserve System, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). The FDTA also includes a requirement for standardized data related to municipal securities to be implemented by the SEC. Data standards to be established under the final rules shall include common identifiers, be open and nonproprietary, and render data searchable and machine-readable.

Read the FY 2023 NDAA Announcement from the White House.

Read the XBRL US announcement.

For governments looking for more information about data standards and how the FDTA could apply to government entities, watch these short (3 to 5 minute) videos. Click on the upper right hand navigation bar for video options.

Grants Reporting Efficiency And Transparency (GREAT) Act

The Grants Reporting Efficiency and Transparency (GREAT) Act, signed into law December 30, 2019, mandates data standards for federal awards by 2022; and for Single Audit data by 2023. The Act states that data standards shall: “…render information reported by recipients of Federal awards fully searchable and machine-readable; be nonproprietary; incorporate standards developed and maintained by voluntary consensus standards bodies; be consistent with and implement applicable accounting and reporting principles; and incorporate the data standards established under the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note). “

In support of the GREAT Act implementation, XBRL US has developed the following:

State Legislation

On July 20, 2022, Michigan Governor Whitmer signed House Bill No. 5783 which includes appropriations for fiscal years 2022 and 2023. The bill includes funding for Michigan State Treasury to work in partnership with a public university located in Michigan to develop an IT strategy focusing on machine-readable financial disclosures for local units of government, and that uses XBRL.

In March 2018, the state of Florida passed House Bill 1073 which creates the Florida Open Financial Statement System, and mandates the use of XBRL for state, county, municipal, and special district financial filings. On February 20, 2020, the state of Illinois passed House Resolution 0703 which encourages the use of XBRL for financial reporting by local governments within the state.

DATA Act

The Digital Accountability and Transparency (DATA) Act , signed into law on May 9, 2014, mandates structured data standards for government with objectives to 1) establish government-wide financial data standards and increase the availability, accuracy, and usefulness of Federal spending information, 2) amend the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA), and 3) develop Government-wide data standards to simplify financial reporting, and improve the quality of spending data. Get details on the DATA Act Information Management Standard v1.0. Learn more about the final data standards.

In 2015 and 2016, XBRL US conducted a DATA Act webinar series featuring speakers from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Information Unlimited, the FDIC, KPMG, the Maryland Society of CPAs, PwC, the Small Business Administration, and U.S. Treasury. Watch replays:

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