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 companies that have been submitting reports with XBRL tags to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for years, however the taxonomy for tagging FERC types might be different.
TIME TO EVALUATE YOUR OPTIONS
In many respects, the burden ought to be lighter for FERC filers than SEC filers. Both will depend on the XBRL 2.1 Specification (which defines the basic constructing blocks of XBRL implementation in enterprise reporting) and the Arelle open-source XBRL validation engine. And a “fact” in each reports is represented by a worth (numeric or non-numeric), elements, date, unit, and accuracy.
But, as we detail under, you’ll discover fairly a number of differences with FERC’s XBRL requirements.
SIMPLIFIED ELEMENT SELECTION
Standard schedules permit for highly prescriptive tag assignments. That means no more tagging from scratch. For instance, the Workiva answer for FERC reporting provides users with pre-tagged varieties. These standardized pre-tagged forms not solely cut back preparation efforts significantly, in addition they minimize tagging inconsistencies—you can achieve higher data high quality with less effort.
Also, you are not required to tag every quantity. Notes to monetary statements require block tags only. For instance, if disclosure notes are pasted into FERC Form 1 from the 10-K you file with the SEC, those 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 solution for FERC reporting: You will be ready to link data in your 10-K to your pre-tagged Form 1 for consistency and effectivity.
If no applicable XBRL concept is available, the information is to not be tagged. However, if an applicable concept exists, FERC requires the data to be tagged (both numeric and nonnumeric). Note that some required info may be reported within 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, similar to officer names? In order to support reporting of company-specific info, FERC makes use of the typed dimension.
ร้านซ่อมเครื่องวัดความดันโลหิต for Workiva users? Although FERC makes use of a different technical specification, you will see the Workiva FERC reporting solution presents the identical feel and appear as axis/member software within the Workiva solution for SEC reporting.
NO OUTLINE MANAGEMENT OR CUSTOM DATES
For FERC reporting, no customized labels or label roles are wanted. Labels are auto-assigned by the official FERC renderer primarily based on form places. Also, there are no calculation to outline. In reality, custom calculations usually are not permitted. Validation rules will handle consistency checks.
Since FERC taxonomy assigns particular hypercube to each schedule, there is no define structure to construct. For customers of Workiva for FERC reporting, this is automatically managed by the Workiva platform.
Plus, truth ordering isn’t controlled by the define and is not required. FERC uses a numeric element “OrderNumber” to control sequencing of company-specific data. Users of the Workiva solution for FERC reporting can simply assign row numbers within the form schedules as “OrderNumber” within the Workiva platform. Lastly, there are not any customized dates as you’re restricted to a small listing of allowable values.
SUBMISSION OF DATA AS INSTANCE DOCUMENT ONLY
Going ahead, there isn’t a digital kind to submit. Machine-readable knowledge is the important thing focus. Although not in iXBRL format, FERC’s official type renderer will provide standardized viewing for the submitted XBRL knowledge.
SUPPORTS REQUEST FOR CONFIDENTIAL DATA
Since most submitting information to the SEC is public report, the SEC doesn’t offer this, but FERC does. Whether FERC will actually approve a request for confidential information is another question! If you have an XBRL vendor for SEC reporting, make sure your vendor additionally supports FERC compliance, for the rationale that FERC taxonomy won’t be the same because the SEC reporting taxonomy.
PREPARE FOR YOUR NEEDS
Whether you outsource XBRL tagging, choose an XBRL software vendor, or make investments the time and money 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 shall be essential when evaluating your options.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Percy Hung is director of structured data initiatives and Peter Larison is supervisor of structured data initiatives at Workiva. Workiva, Inc. is a global software-as-a-service company. It provides a cloud-based related and reporting compliance platform that allows the use of linked data and automation of reporting across finance, accounting, danger, and compliance. For extra information, visit www.workiva.com
Share