What is XBRL ?

XBRL is a data-rich dialect of XML (Extensible Markup Language), the universally preferred language for transmitting information via the Internet. It was developed specifically to communicate information between businesses and other users of financial information, such as analysts, investors and regulators. XBRL provides a common, electronic format for business reporting. It does not change what is being reported. It only changes how it is reported

XBRL is a world-wide standard, developed by an international, non-profit-making consortium, XBRL International Inc. (XII). XII is made up of many hundred members, including government agencies, accounting firms, software companies, large and small corporations, academics and business reporting experts. XII has agreed the basic specifications which define how XBRL works.

XBRL tags

In XBRL, information is not treated as a static block of text or set of numbers.

Instead, information is broken down into unique items of data (eg total liabilities = 100). These data items are then assigned mark-up tags that make them computer-readable. For example, the tag <Liabilities>100</Liabilities> enables a computer to understand that the item is liabilities, and it has a value of 100.

Computers can treat information that has been tagged using XBRL ‘intelligently’; they can recognize, process, store, exchange and analyse it automatically using software.

Because XBRL tags are formed in a universally-accepted way, they can be read and processed by any computer that has XBRL software. XBRL tags are defined and organized using categorization schemes called taxonomies.

XBRL taxonomies

Different countries use different accounting standards. Reporting under each standard reflects differing definitions. The XBRL language uses different dictionaries, known as ‘taxonomies’, to define the specific tags used for each standard. Different dictionaries may be defined for different purposes and types of reporting. Taxonomies are the computer-readable ‘dictionaries’ of XBRL. Taxonomies provide definitions for XBRL tags, they provide information about the tags, and they organize the tags so that they have a meaningful structure.

As a result, taxonomies enable computers with XBRL software to:
understand what the tag is (eg whether it is a monetary item, a percentage or text);
what characteristics the tag has (eg if it has a negative value);
its relationship to other items (eg if it is part of a calculation).

This additional information is called meta-data. When information that has been tagged with XBRL is transmitted, the meta-data contained within the tags is also transmitted.

Taxonomies differ according to reporting purposes, the type of information being reported and reporting presentation requirements. Consequently, a company may use one taxonomy when reporting to a stock exchange, but use a different taxonomy when reporting to a securities regulator. Taxonomies are available for most of the major national accounting standards around the world.

How XBRL works?

XBRL is a member of the family of languages based on XML, or Extensible Markup Language, which is a standard for the electronic exchange of data between businesses and on the internet. Under XML, identifying tags are applied to items of data so that they can be processed efficiently by computer software.

XBRL is a powerful and flexible version of XML which has been defined specifically to meet the requirements of business and financial information. It enables unique identifying tags to be applied to items of financial data, such as ‘net profit’. However, these are more than simple identifiers. They provide a range of information about the item, such as whether it is a monetary item, percentage or fraction. XBRL allows labels in any language to be applied to items, as well as accounting references or other subsidiary information.

XBRL can show how items are related to one another. It can thus represent how they are calculated. It can also identify whether they fall into particular groupings for organisational or presentational purposes. Most importantly, XBRL is easily extensible, so companies and other organisations can adapt it to meet a variety of special requirements.

The rich and powerful structure of XBRL allows very efficient handling of business data by computer software. It supports all the standard tasks involved in compiling, storing and using business data. Such information can be converted into XBRL by suitable mapping processes or generated in XBRL by software. It can then be searched, selected, exchanged or analysed by computer, or published for ordinary viewing.

Benefits of XBRL

XBRL offers major benefits at all stages of business reporting and analysis. The benefits are seen in automation, cost saving, faster, more reliable and more accurate handling of data, improved analysis and in better quality of information and decision-making. All types of organisations can use XBRL to save costs and improve efficiency in handling business and financial information. Because XBRL is extensible and flexible, it can be adapted to a wide variety of different requirements. All participants in the financial information supply chain can benefit, whether they are preparers, transmitters or users of business data.

XBRL enables producers and consumers of financial data to switch resources away from costly manual processes, typically involving time-consuming comparison, assembly and re-entry of data. They are able to concentrate effort on analysis, aided by software which can validate and manipulate XBRL information.

>> Data Collection and Reporting

By using XBRL, companies and other producers of financial data and business reports can automate the processes of data collection. For example, data from different company divisions with different accounting systems can be assembled quickly, cheaply and efficiently if the sources of information have been upgraded to using XBRL. Once data is gathered in XBRL, different types of reports using varying subsets of the data can be produced with minimum effort. A company finance division, for example, could quickly and reliably generate internal management reports, financial statements for publication, tax and other regulatory filings, as well as credit reports for lenders. Not only can data handling be automated, removing time-consuming, error-prone processes, but the data can be checked by software for accuracy.

>> Data Consumption and Analysis

Users of data which is received electronically in XBRL can automate its handling, cutting out time-consuming and costly collation and re-entry of information. Software can also immediately validate the data, highlighting errors and gaps which can immediately be addressed. It can also help in analysing, selecting, and processing the data for re-use. Human effort can switch to higher, more value-added aspects of analysis, review, reporting and decision-making. In this way, investment analysts can save effort, greatly simplify the selection and comparison of data, and deepen their company analysis. Lenders can save costs and speed up their dealings with borrowers. Regulators and government departments can assemble, validate and review data much more efficiently and usefully than they have hitherto been able to do

XBRL Glossary 

abstract  :   An attribute of an element to indicate that the element is only used in a hierarchy to group related elements together. An abstract element cannot be used to tag data in an instance document.

attribute  :   A property of an element such as its name, balance, data type, and whether the element is abstract. Attributes of XBRL US GAAP Taxonomy elements cannot be changed.

authoritative reference  :   Citations to specific authoritative accounting literature (pronouncements, standards, rules, and regulations) derived from various authoritative sources (Securities and Exchange Commission, Financial Accounting Standards Board, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, etc.) and used to help define an element.

axis (pl. axes)     :   An instance document contains facts; an axis differentiates facts and each axis represents a way that the facts may be classified. For example, Revenue for a period might be reported along a business unit axis, a country axis, a product axis, and so forth.

axis-default relationship   :   The dimensional relationship indicating that the table axis has a default domain member. In the XBRL US GAAP Taxonomies 1.0, the default is always the domain element.

axis-domain relationship  :   The dimensional relationship indicating that the table axis has members drawn from a domain.

balance  :   An attribute of a monetary item type designated as debit, credit, or neither; a designation, if any, should be the natural or most expected balance of the element – credit or debit – and thus indicates how calculation relationships involving the element may be assigned a weight attribute (-1 or +1).

calculation relationships  :   Additive relationships between numeric items expressed as parent-child hierarchies.

concept  :   XBRL technical term for element.

context   :   Entity and report-specific information (reporting period, segment information, and so forth) required by XBRL that allows tagged data to be understood in relation to other information.

decimal  :   Instance document fact attribute used to express the number of decimal places to which numbers have been rounded.

definition relationships file  :   Technical term for dimensional relationships file.

dimension  :   XBRL technical term for axis.

domain  :   An element that represents an entire set of other elements; the domain and its members are used to classify facts along the axis of a table. For example, “Arkansas” is a domain member in the domain “States,” and would be used to classify elements such as revenues and assets in Arkansas as distinct from other states. When a fact does not have any domain member specified, that means it applies to the entire domain.

domain member  :   An element representing one of the possibilities within a domain.

domain-member relationship  :   Dimensional relationship indicating that a domain contains the member.

element  :   XBRL components (items, domain members, dimensions, and so forth). The representation of a financial reporting concept, including: line items in the face of the financial statements, important narrative disclosures, and rows and columns in tables.

element definition  :   A human-readable description of a reporting concept. From an XBRL technical point of view, the element definition is the label with the type “documentation,” and there are label relationships in a label relationships file, but from a user point of view the definition is an unchangeable attribute of the element.

extension taxonomy or extension  :   A taxonomy that allows users to add to a published taxonomy in order to define new elements or change element relationships and attributes (presentation, calculation, labels, and so forth) without altering the original.

face of the financial statements  :   Financial statements without the notes or schedules.

fact  :   The occurrence in an instance document of a value or other information tagged by a taxonomy element.

hierarchy   :   Trees (presentation, calculation, and so forth) used to express and navigate relationships.

hypercube  :   XBRL technical term for a table.

imputed value  :   A value that is not specifically provided but could be calculated based on other provided numbers and calculation weights.

instance or instance document  :   XML file that contains business reporting information and represents a collection of financial facts and report-specific information using tags from one or more XBRL taxonomies.

item  :   XBRL technical term for a kind of element.

label  :   Human-readable name for an element; each element has a standard label that corresponds to the element name, and is unique across the taxonomy.

label type  :   A distinguishing name for each distinct element indicating the circumstances in which it should be used; each is given a separate defining role to use in different presentation situations.

line item  :   Elements that conventionally appear on the vertical axis (rows) of a table.

linkbase  :   XBRL technical term for a relationships file.

mapping  :   Process of determining the elements that correspond to lines and columns in a financial statement and which elements must be created by extension.

name  :   Unique identifier of an element in a taxonomy.

namspace   :   Every element has a Universal Resource Identifier (URI) that identifies the organization that maintains the element definitions, with an indication of what the term covers. In the XBRL US GAAP Taxonomy, namespaces start with http://xbrl.us/us-gaap. A namespace prefix is not the namespace.

nillable  :   An attribute that appears on all taxonomy elements, and is used (false) on elements that, if used in an instance document, must have a non-empty value. XBRL taxonomy tools normally have the default value for nillable as “true.” There is no need for any extension to define an element with nillable “false.”

parent-child hierarchy   :   Relationship between elements that indicates subordination of one to the other as represented in a print listing or financial statement presentation. Relationships files use parent-child hierarchies to model several different relationships, including presentation, summation of a set of facts, and membership of concepts within a domain used as the axis of a table.

period type  :   An attribute of an element that reflects whether it is reported as an instant or duration time period.

prefix or namespace prefix  :   A shorthand sequence of letters for a namespace; “us-gaap,” for example, is a common prefix for the namespace http://xbrl.us/us-gaap/2008-01-31.

presentation relationships   :   Relationships that arrange elements allowing them to navigate the taxonomy content in parent-child tree structures (hierarchies).

render or rendering  :   To process an instance document into a layout that facilitates readability and understanding of its contents.

scaling  :   A process that automatically scales numeric data by value, thus saving time of entering zeros during the entry or creation process. XBRL does not support the scaling of numeric values (all values must be reported in their entirety); however, it is a feature commonly found in instance document creation software.

scenario  :   Tag that allows for additional information to be associated with facts in an instance document; this information encompasses in particular the reporting circumstances of the fact, as for example “actual or forecast.” The scenario of any fact can be left unspecified.

schema  :   Technical term for an element declaration file.

segment  :   Tag that allows additional information to be included in the context of an instance document; this information captures segment information such as an entity’s business units, type of debt, type of other income, and so forth.

sign value  :   Denotes whether a numeric fact in an instance has a positive (+) or negative (-) value.

standard label  :   The default label for an element. An extension may override the standard label.

table  :   An element that organizes a set of axes and a set of line items to indicate that each fact of one of the line items could be further characterized along one or more of its axes. For example, if a line item is Sales and an axis is Scenario, this means that an instance document could have facts that are either for an unspecified scenario or for a specific scenario such as “actual or forecast.”

tag (noun)  :   Identifying information that describes a unit of data in an instance document and encloses it in angle brackets (<> and ). All facts in an instance document are enclosed by tags that identify the element of the fact.

tag (verb)  :   To apply tags to an instance document.

taxonomy, taxonomies  :   Electronic dictionary of business reporting elements used to report business data. A taxonomy is composed of an element names file (.xsd) and relationships files directly referenced by that schema. The taxonomy schema files together with the relationships files define the concepts (elements) and relationships that form the basis of the taxonomy. The set of related schemas and relationships files altogether constitute a taxonomy.

type or data type  :   Data types (monetary, string, share, decimal, and so forth) define the kind of data to be tagged with the element name.

unit of measure  :   The units in which numeric items have been measured, such as dollars, shares, Euros, or dollars per share.

validation  :   Process of checking that instance documents and taxonomies correctly meet the rules of the XBRL specification.

weight  :   Calculation relationship attribute (-1 or +1) that works in conjunction with the balance of the parent and child numeric elements to determine the arithmetic summation relationship

General FAQs

1. What is XBRL? 
XBRL is a language for the electronic communication of business and financial data which is revolutionising business reporting around the world. It provides major benefits in the preparation, analysis and communication of business information. It offers cost savings, greater efficiency and improved accuracy and reliability to all those involved in supplying or using financial data. It is an open standard, free of licence fees, being developed by a non-profit making international consortium. Other pages on this web site provide detailed information on XBRL, its technical features and its business opportunities. 

2. What are the potential uses of XBRL? 
XBRL can be applied to a very wide range of business and financial data. Among other things, it can handle:- 

Company internal and external financial reporting. 
Business reporting to all types of regulators, including tax and financial authorities, central banks and governments. 
Filing of loan reports and applications; credit risk assessments. 
Exchange of information between government departments or between other institutions, such as central banks. 
Authoritative accounting literature – providing a standard way of describing accounting documents provided by authoritative bodies. 

3. Who can benefit from using XBRL? 
All types of organisations can use XBRL to save costs and improve efficiency in handling business and financial information. Because XBRL is extensible and flexible, it can be adapted to a wide variety of different requirements. All participants in the financial information supply chain can benefit, whether they are preparers, transmitters or users of business data. 

4. What is the future of XBRL? 
XBRL is set to become the standard way of recording, storing and transmitting business financial information. It is capable of use throughout the world, whatever the language of the country concerned, for a wide variety of business purposes. It will deliver major cost savings and gains in efficiency, improving processes in companies, governments and other organisations. 

5. Who developed XBRL? 
XBRL is being developed by an international non-profit consortium of major companies, organisations and government agencies. These include the world’s leading accounting, technology, government and financial services bodies. 

6. What are the benefits to a company from putting its financial statements into XBRL? 
XBRL increases the usability of financial statement information. The need to re-key financial data for analytical and other purposes can be eliminated. By presenting its statements in XBRL, a company can benefit investors and raise its profile. It will also meet the requirements of regulators, lenders and others consumers of financial information, who are increasingly demanding reporting in XBRL. This will improve business relations and lead to a range of benefits.

With full adoption of XBRL, companies can automate data collection. For example, data from different company divisions with different accounting systems can be assembled quickly, cheaply and efficiently. Once data is gathered in XBRL, different types of reports using varying subsets of the data can be produced with minimum effort. A company finance division, for example, could quickly and reliably generate internal management reports, financial statements for publication, tax and other regulatory filings, as well as credit reports for lenders. Not only can data handling be automated, removing time-consuming, error-prone processes, but the data can be checked by software for accuracy. 

7. How do companies create statements in XBRL? 
XBRL-aware accounting software products are becoming available which will support the export of data in XBRL form. These tools allow users to map charts of accounts and other structures to XBRL tags. 
Statements can be mapped into XBRL using XBRL software tools designed for this purpose. 
Data from accounting databases can be extracted in XBRL format. It is not strictly necessary for an accounting software vendor to use XBRL; third party products can achieve the transformation of the data to XBRL.
Applications can transform data in particular formats into XBRL. For example, web sites are in operation that can transform filings into XBRL format 

The route which an individual company may take will depend on its requirements and the accounting software and systems it currently uses, among other factors. 

8. Where can I find software which will help me create or use XBRL? 
Several software vendors are developing such tools in India and the companies are free to choose the one that suits them to create XBRL document. 

9. Why are Accounting Institutes like ICAI in India taking a major role in the XBRL consortium? 
A core purpose of Accounting Institutes around the world is to enhance the access, quality and breadth of financial information available to the investing public. XBRL will help achieve this. Institutes also believe that the development of XBRL will help position their members as valued knowledge providers for their clients. Businesses, large and small, are undergoing fundamental change. Accountants, as the managers of the underlying language of business, can help organisations fit into the new digital world, solve business issues and capitilise on opportunities. 

10. Does XBRL cause a change in accounting standards? 
No.   XBRL is simply a language for transmitting information. It must accurately reflect data reported under different standards – it does not change them. 

11. Does XBRL benefit the comparability of financial statements? 
XBRL benefits comparability by helping to identify data which is genuinely alike and distinguishing information which is not comparable.

MCA Specific FAQs

1. I would like to know, whether the XBRL software has to be purchased from separate vendors and then install in our computers or MCA itself will provide us with the software. Which agency should I approach to get the XBRL software? 
XBRL instance document creation software has to be purchased from the software vendors in the market. This software is used to create XBRL instance documents that would be uploaded on the MCA portal. MCA21 system shall provide a facility for validation of the instance document and filing of the same. MCA is not recommending any specific XBRL software. 

2. I am interested in taking training for filing in XBRL format. Kindly advice. 
ICAI, which is assisting MCA with conduct of XBRL training, has been instructed to develop standard Training module as well identify resource persons in consultation with XBRL training partners located at different parts on the country. It is proposed to engage leading chambers of industry and other professional institutes, namely, ICWAI and ICSI in future trainings. Training will be held over the next few months in most leading cities of India. Details of the same will be available on our website www.mca.gov.in/www.xbrl.icai.org. 

3. When we are filing Balance Sheet in XBRL format, then whether the Previous Forms 23AC and 23ACA are still in existence or not? 
Existing Form 23AC and 23ACA shall continue to be there for filing by companies to which XBRL filing is not applicable; and for filing of earlier year’s documents. 

4. How to upload the XBRL format? 
Kindly see the document ‘Steps for filing XBRL in MCA21.doc’ on the website. 

5. How to retype ‘Notes to Accounts and Statements’ in XBRL format? 
This shall be catered by the XBRL instance document creation software 

6. If the subsidiary Company’s paid up capital is less than Rupees 5 Crore, then I want to know whether it is to be filed in XBRL format. 
Subsidiary of listed company is required to file in XBRL format, irrespective of its paid up capital. 

7. Please give proper understanding on XBRL Taxonomy. Why does the excel file contain five sheets. 
XBRL is a collection of standardized, machine-readable “tags” for line items in financial statements, including footnotes and schedules. It is similar in concept to bar codes used to identify products. Using XBRL, each line in a financial statement is assigned a standardized data tag.
XBRL is a standards-based way to communicate business and financial information. These communications are defined by metadata set out in taxonomies. Taxonomies capture the definition of individual reporting concepts as well as the relationships between concepts and other semantic meaning.
The taxonomy comprises of the following components:- 
Schema – Defines the elements used in the linkbases 
Presentation linkbase – Which defines the structure for displaying the data, along with the preferred label attribute.
Calculation linkbase – Establishes the arithmetical relationship of simple addition and subtraction, which is done by way of a weight attribute (1 or -1) 
Label linkbase – Stores the labels about the concepts (it is the human readable name of the element) 
Kindly see relevant section on the website for more on XBRL. 

8. What are the other files to be used for given in xml / xsd format? 
The XML and XSDs actually make the real taxonomy. The excel sheet is just for you to view it. An XBRL processor (a computer software that understands and/or manipulates XBRL documents) will need those XML and XSD documents. 

9. What is taxonomy? How to define the taxonomies? 
XBRL is a standards-based way to communicate business and financial information. These communications are defined by metadata set out in taxonomies. Taxonomies capture the definition of individual reporting concepts as well as the relationships between concepts and other semantic meaning.

Questions from Stakeholders

1. Which companies have to file their financial statements in XBRL Mode? 
The companies whose Balance Sheet date is 31.03.2011 or onwards, need to file their financial statements in XBRL provided they qualify the criteria laid as per Ministry’s general Circular 37/2011 dated 07.06.2011. 

2. If a company falls in Phase-I class of companies, is the consolidated financial statement of the listed holding company alone is required to be filed in XBRL or the subsidiaries also need to file their financials in XBRL? 
The holding company has to file consolidated financial statement in XBRL. Its subsidiaries also need to file their financials in XBRL. 

3. If Subsidiary company has a different year ending from holding company, will the subsidiary still be required to file XBRL document? 
If the Subsidiary company meets the criteria of phase-I category of companies, they have to file in the XBRL mode. 

4. Is voluntary filing of financial statements in XBRL mode for the Year 2010-11 encouraged for companies outside the Phase-I category of companies? 
Yes encouraged, such a company need not file the Financial Statements in PDF Format. 

5. What is the definition for exempted class of companies? How does a company classify into Power, Banking, Insurance and NBFC? 
All such companies, whose financial statements are generated as per accounting requirements other than Schedule VI of the Company Act, 1956 have been exempted from XBRL filing for year 2010-11. The companies regulated by any other act like Electricity Act, 2003, Banking Regulation Act, 1949, Insurance Act, etc are exempted from XBRL filing in the Phase-I filings. Similarly, companies registered as a NBFC have been exempted from XBRL filing for year 2010-11. 

6. Who will certify the XBRL filing? 
The certification of XBRL filing would be done by the professional as before. The professional may use XBRL viewer tool to satisfy himself about the authenticity of XBRL document as per the audited financial statements. 

7. Does the subsidiary of a subsidiary of a listed company also need to file in XBRL? 
Yes, all the subsidiaries (including subsidiary of a subsidiary of a listed company) of a listed company in India need to file their financial statements in XBRL this year.

For More Details on Schedules for Trainings for XBRL please visit the below link :

http://www.mca.gov.in/XBRL/training_sch.html

Thanks
Vikrant Sadana