XBRL US welcomed the decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission to transition public companies and mutual funds from conventional XBRL formatting of their financial statements to the use of Inline XBRL. Inline XBRL is an XBRL International specification that provides a mechanism for embedding XBRL tags in HTML documents. This allows the XBRL benefits of tagged data to be incorporated into a single human-readable presentation of a report.
The SEC voted during an Open Meeting on June 28, 2018, to transition operating companies to Inline XBRL over the next three years. The SEC approved a phased approach, similar to the initial adoption of XBRL, with large accelerated filers filing in US GAAP adopting Inline XBRL for their first fiscal period on or after June 15, 2019; accelerated filers filing in US GAAP, for their first fiscal period on or after June 15, 2020; and all other filers, for their first fiscal period on or after June 15, 2021.
Mutual fund companies will transition to Inline XBRL, with large fund groups adopting two years after the effective date of the amendment, and all other funds complying three years after the effective date. The 15 business day filing period for the risk/return summary for mutual funds will be eliminated.
“The SEC decision to move to Inline XBRL reduces the need for companies to file two versions of company financials and simplifies the company’s review process. The singularity of the report generated should increase the quality of the data reported and help investors and data providers by ensuring the XBRL data and financial statements are the same.” said Campbell Pryde, CEO of XBRL US, “All XBRL US member organizations that offer XBRL preparation tools and services will be ready well in advance of the specified timing for the adoption of inline XBRL.”
The SEC has been conducting a voluntary filing program allowing operating companies to file using Inline XBRL since June 2016. To date, 530 submissions have been made by 157 companies.
Inline XBRL is already in use by millions of companies around the world in other countries with XBRL implementations. For example, the UK’s tax authority requires all companies, including private companies, to file financial statements in Inline XBRL, with more than 2.5 million filings received annually. The UK business registrar, Companies House, allows voluntary provision of the same financial statements to it, with more than 80% of companies choosing to do so.
To learn more about the rule, go to: https://xbrl.us/news/sec-20180628/
To learn more about the Inline XBRL specification, go to: https://www.xbrl.org/the-standard/what/ixbrl/
