FRC publishes conventions for electronic tagging of accounts

News types: Guidance, Publications

Published: 15 September 2014

PN 57/14

The Financial reporting Council (FRC) has published three finalised XBRL tagging conventions (“taxonomies”). Taxonomies enable accounts to be filed electronically and for users of information in corporate reports to extract the data they want and analyse it more effectively.

XBRL Accounts Taxonomies Feedback Statement
Developer Guide - FRC Taxonomies
Tagging Guide - FRC Taxonomies

The taxonomies will support XBRL reporting under the new UK GAAP standards, FRS 101, FRS 102 and EU-adopted IFRS. HMRC and Companies House are expected to adopt the taxonomies in due course. The Irish Revenue Commissioners are also expected to implement these once appropriate Irish requirements (extensions) are available.

The taxonomies have been developed by a project team at the FRC with guidance from a technical task force and a Governance Committee which includes staff from leading advisors, BIS, HMRC, Companies House and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, as well as the FRC. XBRL UK has also been involved.

Melanie McLaren, Executive Director Codes and Standards at the FRC said:

‘The release of these taxonomies is an important step in making corporate reports more transparent and accessible to investors. The e-enablement of reporting is an important element of standard setting and helps to foster investment in UK companies’
 

Notes to editors
 

  1. The The FRC is responsible for promoting high quality corporate governance and reporting to foster investment.  We set the UK Corporate Governance and Stewardship Codes as well as UK standards for accounting, auditing and actuarial work.  We represent UK interests in international standard-setting.  We also monitor and take action to promote the quality of corporate reporting and auditing.  We operate independent disciplinary arrangements for accountants and actuaries; and oversee the regulatory activities of the accountancy and actuarial professional bodies.
     

  2. Information in corporate reports is now often electronically “tagged” so that users of the data can more easily pull out the information they want and analyse it more efficiently. iXBRL is a technology that enables this to be done in a standardised way. Following transfer of responsibility to the FRC, the iXBRL tagging conventions – taxonomies – have been updated to reflect the new Financial Reporting Standards (FRS 101 and 102) for the UK and Ireland.
     

  3. UK companies already have to submit their accounts to HMRC in XBRL format and many also voluntarily do so when they submit them to Companies House. Updating the XBRL tagging conventions will enable companies to continue to do so after they have adopted the new accounting standards.

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