March, 2021 Newsletter

March, 2021

Corporate sustainability takes center stage for both industry and regulators. March was a busy month for those interested in climate and other ESG topics. The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) published its draft XBRL Taxonomy, which represents ESG metrics for 77 industry groups. XBRL US’ Domain Steering Committee reviewed and provided feedback to the SASB on the taxonomy, and ultimately certified it in Candidate Release form. SASB is conducting a public review of the taxonomy which will end April 22. SASB President and COO, Matthew Welch noted in the public review announcement, “SASB-aligned disclosures in the structured XBRL format will allow for easier collection and comprehensive analysis of non-financial data.” More details about the taxonomy, what’s available, and how to provide feedback can be found in the SASB blog.

SASB Taxonomy developments are particularly important in light of the renewed attention that ESG metrics are receiving from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Acting SEC Chair Allison Herren Lee gave a speech, “Public Input Welcomed on Climate Change Disclosures” which includes a list of 15 detailed questions for consideration. Comments are due in June. Acting Chair Lee also published a speech on “A Climate for Change: Meeting Investor Demand for Climate and ESG Information at the SEC“, in which she noted that “...climate and ESG are front and center for the SEC. We understand these issues are key to investors – and therefore key to our core mission.”

Separately, the Commission announced the creation of a Climate and ESG Task Force in the Division of Enforcement, and noted that their 2021 Examination Priorities placed greater focus on climate risk. Given the number of announcements and initiatives the Commission has planned, they created a new web page to bring together actions and updates on climate and ESG investing.

On the global front, Trustees of the IFRS Foundation stated that they plan to continue their work on establishing an international sustainability reporting standards board within the existing governance structure of the IFRS Foundation. The new board will focus on climate-related reporting and on information considered material to investors; and will build on existing standards frameworks.

FERC XBRL compliance 2021 deadline for quarterly filings delayed slightly to give issuers more time to make the transition. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) announced that the deadline for the initial compliance of quarterly filings has been moved out to December 31, 2021 for: 3-Q (electric) for Major Electric Utilities, 3-Q (electric) for Non-major Public Utilities and Licensees, 3-Q (natural gas) for Major Natural Gas Companies, 3-Q (natural gas) for Non-major Natural Gas Companies, and 6-Q (oil) for Oil Pipeline Companies.

SEC updates EDGAR and supports 2021 taxonomies. The Commission’s announcement explained that EDGAR has been updated to Release 21.1 and now supports 2021 taxonomies for U.S. GAAP SEC Reporting and other supporting taxonomies. 2019 taxonomies will not be removed until June 2021, although the SEC encourages companies to use the most current release.

XBRL US member reports on how federal response to pandemic highlights the need for better state and local government data. Marc Joffe, Chair of the Standard Government Reporting Working Group, and Senior Policy Analyst at the Reason Foundation, noted in his article, Federal COVID-19 Pandemic Response Illustrates Need for Better State and Local Financial Data, that “During the coronavirus pandemic, the lack of timely and standardized state and local disclosure prevented policymakers from quickly determining with any degree of accuracy how much revenue was lost as the pandemic unfolded…Ideally, of course, all state and local governments would adopt a single reporting taxonomy (i.e., data dictionary) that could be readily consolidated.”

Point of View Blog Posts

ESEF Rollout Underway – Get Machine-readable Filings Here, by Campbell Pryde, President and CEO, XBRL US. The EU and UK rollout of ESEF (Inline XBRL) has begun, with filings from companies in Austria, Estonia, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK, among others. We’ve started posting these valuable, machine-readable filings on XBRL US.

Beat the Clock on Earnings Day, by Gladimyr Sully, Financial Data & Analysis, idaciti; Christine Tan, Co-founder and Chief Research Officer, idaciti; and Elaine Zhang, Financial Data Analyst, idaciti. The team from idaciti speaks to the value of more timely data in earnings announcements, and explains how unstructured data can be made structured and machine-readable by leveraging the XBRL framework.

Getting XBRL Data is Easy as 1-2-3, by David Tauriello, Vice President, Operations, XBRL US. 750 million people use Excel spreadsheets worldwide. This month, we introduced a new Excel Add-in to Microsoft Excel which gives anyone with an Excel spreadsheet the ability to query, extract and analyze ten+ years of historical data from the over 6,000 companies that are listed on U.S. stock markets. Find out how it works.

Upcoming Events of Note

Standards for Regulators – Governance & Taxonomy Maintenance
Free XBRL US Webinar – April 21, 3PM ET

Building high quality data standards that stand the test of time, requires establishing a good governance framework to ensure that all stakeholders are involved; and standing up a support and maintenance program to adapt to changes in reporting requirements and technical advances in the marketplace. Attend this one hour session to find out about the US GAAP governance and maintenance program designed and implemented by the FASB XBRL team.

Register: https://xbrl.us/events/20210421/

More XBRL Demos for FERC Filers
Free XBRL US Webinars – April 27, 28, and 29, at 3PM ET

Three additional demonstration sessions have been set up for utilities and other companies that need to comply with the FERC XBRL requirements that start late this year. Sessions being held will feature application providers giving demonstrations from Advanced Computer Innovations, Novaworks, LLC; RDG Filings; Iris Business Services; Workiva; Systrends; DataTracks; and P3 Data Systems.

Learn about each session and register: https://xbrl.us/home/filers/ferc-reporting/education/

XBRL International – Data Amplified Virtual
Free XBRL International Conference – April 14, 15, and 16 from 12:00-5:00 PM UTC

The future of business reporting is here! XBRL International presents Data Amplified Virtual, a free three-day virtual conference coming straight to your home or office. Attend this global gathering of experts in structured data, digital reporting, technical standards and related topics. We will be connecting live, asking questions, sharing ideas and taking deep dives into pressing issues, with instant replays available for all registered attendees. Whether you are most interested in the future of audit, or the impact of digital disclosures, ESEF, granular data, corporate reporting & ESG, digital trust, or the latest on the OIM and other new technical standards from XBRL International, Data Amplified is the place to – virtually – be, with a huge amount of content coming your way.

Register Today: https://dataamplified.org/ and follow the event on Twitter or LinkedIn for updates and announcements.

Data Coalition Webinar Series: Making Artificial Intelligence Real: The Future of Government Use of AI
Free Data Coalition Webinar – April 29, 2 PM EDT

Learn more and register: https://www.datacoalition.org/regtech-2021-series-the-new-future-for-data-modernization/

Upcoming XBRL US Steering Committee and Other Member Meetings

The next Data Quality Committee meeting will be held Tuesday, June 29 at Noon EDT – look for registration details in May. Get information about the Committee: https://xbrl.us/dqc

The Domain Steering Committee will meet Thursday, May 6, at 3PM EDT. https://xbrl.us/events/dsc-210506 – all XBRL US Members are invited to attend

The Communications Steering Committee will meet Tuesday, April 20, at 3 PM EDT. https://xbrl.us/events/csc-210420 – all XBRL US Members are invited to attend

The Regulatory Modernization Working Group will meet Tuesday, April 13, at 3 PM EDT. (membership@xbrl.us for details)

XBRL US Members are encouraged to attend and get involved.

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.