July 2020 Newsletter

July, 2020

The XBRL standard was developed, and is supported, by a global community of accountants, technologists, data and software providers, issuers, investors, and standard setters. Our community supports regulators and businesses that adopt the standard by responding to changing technologies, continuously expanding on the specification to meet new demands, and providing education and support.

This month marks the culmination of two year’s worth of work on the Taxonomy Development Handbook, a comprehensive guide developed by the XBRL US Domain Steering Committee to support regulators. XBRL US members also came together to establish the Regulatory Modernization Working Group, with a mission to “Establish an ongoing dialogue between regulators and the vendor and filer community. Identify issues and propose recommendations to regulators that will facilitate the smooth implementation of new regulatory rules related to XBRL and other structured data filing requirements.”

XBRL US publishes guidance to help regulators build good quality data standards programs. The newly published Taxonomy Development Handbook, which was developed by the XBRL US Domain Steering Committee (DSC), is an in-depth roadmap to building effective data standard reporting programs. It covers the fundamentals of the XBRL specification, and best practice in establishing a governance structure, assessing project scope, creating an appropriate data model to support reporting requirements, the mechanics of building the taxonomy, and documenting the program.

“The XBRL community is dedicated to supporting regulators and businesses that … adopt the XBRL standard…” said Scott Theis, CEO of Novaworks LLC, and Chair, XBRL US Domain Steering Committee. “Up to this point, the XBRL information available to developers and data analysts has been highly technical and spread over a lot of different documents. The Taxonomy Development Handbook brings all this information together in an easy to follow guide with examples, plenty of reference material and crosslinking.”

A webinar will be held on August 12 at 3 ET to explain the basics of the new guidance and how it can be used in conjunction with other materials to support regulators and businesses adopting standards. Register here.

SEC Commissioner Lee and PwC Vice Chair Bricker agree to provide keynote speeches at the 2020 XBRL US Investor Forum, “Ready for Anything – Using Data in Perilous Times”. The half-day forum on November 18, 2020 will be held at CFA Society New York in Time Square, New York, and is sponsored by Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business, CFA Institute, and CFA Society New York. The program will address the importance of data standards during times of crisis, and will emphasize the expanding use of XBRL data today. The event is free to the public but requires registration.

FASB publishes draft guidance on XBRL extensible lists. The FASB announced that they are seeking comment on definitions for glossary terms and whether users agree with the examples provided. Comments should be submitted directly to the FASB, by September 21, 2020.

SEC analysis shows that IFRS custom tag rates have increased from 17% in 2018 to 19% in 2019. The Commission analyzed extensions used by filers of Forms 20-F, 20-F/A, 40-F and 40-F/A. The report also showed that IFRS filers use more custom tags than US GAAP filers in 2019, 19% versus 17%, respectively.

XBRL US comments on SEC’s draft VIP Taxonomy. The VIP Taxonomy was developed to be used by variable annuity and variable life insurance companies to comply with the SEC’s recently finalized rule on Updated Disclosure Requirements and Summary Prospectus for Variable Annuity and Variable Life Insurance Contracts. An ad hoc working group of XBRL US members convened to prepare the XBRL US input which recommended certain changes to technical aspects of the taxonomy, revisions to the Taxonomy Guide, and consideration of changes to the EDGAR submission process to facilitate the roll-out. The XBRL US letter also asked the SEC to provide additional supporting materials including comprehensive samples of Inline XBRL reports, and a spreadsheet of taxonomy elements for ease of element review.

XBRL US expresses support for XBRL tagging of FERC Form 730. In response to the FERC request about proposed changes to Form 730, the Report of Electric Transmission of Investment Activity, XBRL US submitted a comment letter expressing our support for the plan to require the form to be prepared in XBRL format. We noted that much of the data required to be reported is financial in nature, and given that XBRL is already required of these reporting entities, the addition of XBRL tagging for Form 730 will not pose a significant burden.

Upcoming and Recent XBRL US Webinars & Meetings

Roadmap to Build Successful Financial Data Standards, Wednesday, August 12, 3 PM EDT.
The newly published Taxonomy Development Handbook is a comprehensive guide to help regulators and businesses develop and implement consistent, high quality data standards. Attend this webinar to learn about the Handbook which covers the fundamentals of the XBRL specification, and best practice in establishing a governance structure, assessing project scope, creating an appropriate data model to support reporting requirements, the mechanics of building the taxonomy, and documenting the program.

Register: https://xbrl.us/events/2000812

Archive

• Understanding the FERC Taxonomy, Session 2 (Members-only Webinar), June 10 – listen to replay: https://xbrl.us/events/200610

Upcoming XBRL US Steering Committee and Other Member Meetings

• The Domain Steering Committee will meet Thursday, August 6 at 3 PM EDT.
• The Communications Steering Committee will meet Tuesday, August 18 at 3 PM EDT.
• The Regulatory Modernization Working Group will meet Tuesday, August 11 at 3 PM EDT.
• The Earnings Subcommittee will meet Thursday, August 20 at 2 PM EDT.

XBRL US Members are encouraged to attend and get involved. Email membership@xbrl.us for details.

XBRL US Members are committed to engaging and collaborating with other members, contributing to the standard through involvement of their teams, and striving to build awareness and educate the market. Members of XBRL US represent the full range of the business reporting supply chain.

Not yet an XBRL US member? Maybe it’s time to consider joining XBRL US for yourself ($55 – $500/ year) or your organization (fees vary). Find out more about the benefits of membership and how to become involved by visiting https://xbrl.us/benefits.