« Global Master Plan for XBRL-based Digital Financial Reporting | Main | Burroughs Adding Machine »

Reporting Approaches + XBRL Approaches + Implementation Approaches

I ran across a very good academic paper that was published in 2013. The title of the paper is Critical Reflection on XBRL: A “Customisable Standard” for Financial Reporting?  In the paper they compare two approaches for creating XBRL taxonomies and reports and they provide the following graphic from page 126 of that paper.  They call the approaches "Standardization" which means a forms-based implementation with no extensions allowed and "Customization" which means extensions are allowed.  Then at the bottom they provide information about the resulting ability to consume reported information and the idiosyncratic details provided within the report.

That is a good graphic, but the graphic is incomplete.  And so I created my own graphic inspired by the graphic provided in the above academic paper.  What I did was break the "Customization" down into two distinct parts: 

  • "Freeform Model" is where an implementer allows extensions to taxonomy report elements and to the creation of a report model but DOES NOT PROVIDE MECHANISMS TO CONTROL the extensions or reconfigurations to keep them within permitted boundaries.  
  • "Controlled Model" is also where an implementer allows extensions to taxonomy report elements and to the creation of a report model and ALSO PROVIDES A MECHANISM TO CONTROL the extensions and reconfigurations of the report model in order to keep them within permitted and expected boundaries. 

This graphic is my enhanced version of what the paper above provides.  I have also color coded the consequences of the implementation decision:

Granted, the Seattle Method did not exist in 2013 when that academic paper was written.  But now it does exist.

Today, most existing XBRL implementations use the Standard Forms approach.  Those that do allow for customization do not control the report model customization well, if at all really; as a result they have quality issues.

#################

Adopting XBRL in Italy: Early Evidence of Fit Between Italian GAAP and Reporting Practices of Non-listed Companies

Posted on Thursday, December 30, 2021 at 07:54AM by Registered CommenterCharlie in | CommentsPost a Comment | References1 Reference

PrintView Printer Friendly Version

EmailEmail Article to Friend

References (1)

References allow you to track sources for this article, as well as articles that were written in response to this article.

Reader Comments

There are no comments for this journal entry. To create a new comment, use the form below.

PostPost a New Comment

Enter your information below to add a new comment.

My response is on my own website »
Author Email (optional):
Author URL (optional):
Post:
 
All HTML will be escaped. Hyperlinks will be created for URLs automatically.