Energy companies will soon start reporting quarterly and annual monetary and operational data in XBRL format to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The XBRL format isn’t new for public firms which have been submitting reviews with XBRL tags to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for years, however the taxonomy for tagging FERC varieties shall be totally different.
TIME TO EVALUATE YOUR OPTIONS
In many respects, the burden ought to be lighter for FERC filers than SEC filers. Both will rely on the XBRL 2.1 Specification (which defines the fundamental constructing blocks of XBRL implementation in business reporting) and the Arelle open-source XBRL validation engine. And a “fact” in both reports is represented by a price (numeric or non-numeric), components, date, unit, and accuracy.
But, as we detail under, you’ll discover fairly a quantity of differences with FERC’s XBRL necessities.
SIMPLIFIED ELEMENT SELECTION
Standard schedules permit for extremely prescriptive tag assignments. That means no extra tagging from scratch. For example, the Workiva resolution for FERC reporting offers customers with pre-tagged types. These standardized pre-tagged types not solely reduce preparation efforts considerably, in addition they minimize tagging inconsistencies—you can achieve greater knowledge quality with less effort.
Also, you are not required to tag each number. Notes to monetary statements require block tags solely. For example, 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 text block for FERC. A bonus for customers of the Workiva solution for SEC reporting and the Workiva resolution for FERC reporting: You will be ready to link information in your 10-K to your pre-tagged Form 1 for consistency and efficiency.
If no relevant XBRL idea is on the market, the information is to not be tagged. However, if an relevant 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 for use as provided. So, how do you report company-specific info, such as officer names? In order to assist reporting of company-specific data, FERC makes use of the typed dimension.
The bonus for Workiva users? Although FERC uses a unique technical specification, you will see the Workiva FERC reporting answer provides the same look and feel as axis/member utility in 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 type locations. Also, there aren’t any calculation to define. In truth, custom calculations aren’t permitted. Validation rules will handle consistency checks.
Since FERC taxonomy assigns specific hypercube to each schedule, there isn’t a define structure to construct. For customers of Workiva for FERC reporting, that is automatically managed by the Workiva platform.
Plus, reality ordering isn’t controlled by the define and isn’t required. FERC uses a numeric component “OrderNumber” to regulate sequencing of company-specific info. Unauthorized of the Workiva resolution for FERC reporting can simply assign row numbers within the type schedules as “OrderNumber” within the Workiva platform. Lastly, there are not any custom dates as you’re limited to a small list of allowable values.
SUBMISSION OF DATA AS INSTANCE DOCUMENT ONLY
Going ahead, there isn’t any digital kind to submit. Machine-readable data is the key focus. Although not in iXBRL format, FERC’s official form renderer will present standardized viewing for the submitted XBRL data.
SUPPORTS REQUEST FOR CONFIDENTIAL DATA
Since most filing information to the SEC is public report, the SEC doesn’t provide this, but FERC does. Whether FERC will actually approve a request for confidential information is one other question! If you 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 identical as the SEC reporting taxonomy.
PREPARE FOR YOUR NEEDS
Whether you outsource XBRL tagging, choose an XBRL software program vendor, or make investments the money and time to construct and maintain an in-house resolution for FERC compliance, understanding the similarities and variations between XBRL filings for FERC and for the SEC will be essential when evaluating your options.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Percy Hung is director of structured information initiatives and Peter Larison is manager of structured data initiatives at Workiva. Workiva, Inc. is a world software-as-a-service company. It offers a cloud-based related and reporting compliance platform that permits the utilization of connected information and automation of reporting throughout finance, accounting, risk, and compliance. For extra data, visit www.workiva.com
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