Energy corporations will soon start reporting quarterly and annual monetary and operational knowledge in XBRL format to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The XBRL format isn’t new for public firms which have been submitting reports with XBRL tags to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for years, however the taxonomy for tagging FERC forms shall be different.
TIME TO EVALUATE YOUR OPTIONS
In many respects, the burden should be lighter for FERC filers than SEC filers. Both will rely on the XBRL 2.1 Specification (which defines the essential constructing blocks of XBRL implementation in business reporting) and the Arelle open-source XBRL validation engine. And a “fact” in each reports is represented by a value (numeric or non-numeric), elements, date, unit, and accuracy.
But, as we element below, you’ll discover fairly a few differences with FERC’s XBRL requirements.
SIMPLIFIED ELEMENT SELECTION
Standard schedules allow for highly prescriptive tag assignments. That means no more tagging from scratch. For instance, the Workiva solution for FERC reporting offers users with pre-tagged forms. These standardized pre-tagged types not only reduce preparation efforts considerably, in addition they decrease tagging inconsistencies—you can achieve larger knowledge high quality with less effort.
Also, you are not required to tag every number. Notes to financial statements require block tags only. For example, if disclosure notes are pasted into FERC Form 1 from the 10-K you file with the SEC, these can be tagged with a single textual content block for FERC. A bonus for users of the Workiva resolution for SEC reporting and the Workiva answer for FERC reporting: You will be in a position to hyperlink information in your 10-K to your pre-tagged Form 1 for consistency and effectivity.
If no relevant XBRL idea is on the market, the data is to not be tagged. However, if an relevant concept exists, FERC requires the information to be tagged (both numeric and nonnumeric). Note that some required info may be reported inside footnotes for schedules.
Additionally, no extensions are allowed. Besides ideas, axes and members are also to be used as offered. So, how do you report company-specific data, such as officer names? In order to support reporting of company-specific data, FERC uses the typed dimension.
The bonus for Workiva users? Although FERC uses a different technical specification, you will see the Workiva FERC reporting resolution presents the same look and feel as axis/member software in the Workiva solution for SEC reporting.
NO OUTLINE MANAGEMENT OR CUSTOM DATES
For FERC reporting, no custom labels or label roles are wanted. Labels are auto-assigned by the official FERC renderer based mostly on type locations. Also, there aren’t any calculation to outline. In truth, customized calculations are not permitted. Validation guidelines will handle consistency checks.
Since FERC taxonomy assigns specific hypercube to each schedule, there isn’t a outline structure to build. For users of Workiva for FERC reporting, this is routinely managed by the Workiva platform.
Plus, truth ordering isn’t managed by the define and is not required. FERC makes use of a numeric element “OrderNumber” to control sequencing of company-specific information. Users of the Workiva answer for FERC reporting can simply assign row numbers within the type schedules as “OrderNumber” within the Workiva platform. Lastly, there aren’t any customized dates as you’re restricted to a small record of allowable values.
เกจ์วัดแรงดัน OF DATA AS INSTANCE DOCUMENT ONLY
Going forward, there is not a digital kind to submit. Machine-readable information is the necessary thing focus. Although not in iXBRL format, FERC’s official kind renderer will present standardized viewing for the submitted XBRL information.
SUPPORTS REQUEST FOR CONFIDENTIAL DATA
Since most filing data to the SEC is public report, the SEC doesn’t supply this, however FERC does. Whether FERC will really approve a request for confidential information is another question! If you might have an XBRL vendor for SEC reporting, make sure your vendor also helps FERC compliance, because the FERC taxonomy is not going to be the same because the SEC reporting taxonomy.
PREPARE FOR YOUR NEEDS
Whether you outsource XBRL tagging, select an XBRL software vendor, or invest the money and time to build and preserve an in-house resolution for FERC compliance, understanding the similarities and differences between XBRL filings for FERC and for the SEC might be essential when evaluating your options.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Percy Hung is director of structured data initiatives and Peter Larison is supervisor of structured knowledge initiatives at Workiva. Workiva, Inc. is a world software-as-a-service firm. It provides a cloud-based related and reporting compliance platform that permits the use of connected information and automation of reporting across finance, accounting, danger, and compliance. For extra information, visit www.workiva.com
Share