Energy companies will soon begin reporting quarterly and annual monetary and operational information in XBRL format to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The XBRL format isn’t new for public firms which were submitting reviews with XBRL tags to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for years, however the taxonomy for tagging FERC forms might 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 essential constructing blocks of XBRL implementation in business reporting) and the Arelle open-source XBRL validation engine. And a “fact” in both stories is represented by a price (numeric or non-numeric), components, date, unit, and accuracy.
But, as we detail below, you’ll discover quite a few variations with FERC’s XBRL necessities.
SIMPLIFIED ELEMENT SELECTION
Standard schedules allow for extremely prescriptive tag assignments. That means no more tagging from scratch. For example, the Workiva answer for FERC reporting provides customers with pre-tagged types. These standardized pre-tagged types not only cut back preparation efforts significantly, additionally they decrease tagging inconsistencies—you can achieve greater knowledge high quality with much less effort.
Also, you aren’t required to tag every number. Notes to financial 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 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 have the power to link information in your 10-K to your pre-tagged Form 1 for consistency and efficiency.
If no relevant XBRL idea is out there, the data is not to be tagged. However, if an relevant concept exists, FERC requires the information to be tagged (both numeric and nonnumeric). Note that some required information could also be reported within footnotes for schedules.
Additionally, no extensions are allowed. Besides ideas, axes and members are additionally for use as provided. So, how do you report company-specific information, similar to officer names? In order to assist reporting of company-specific information, FERC uses the typed dimension.
The bonus for Workiva users? Although FERC makes use of a special technical specification, you will note the Workiva FERC reporting solution provides the identical appear and feel as axis/member application within the Workiva answer for SEC reporting.
เกจวัดแรง OR CUSTOM DATES
For FERC reporting, no custom labels or label roles are needed. Labels are auto-assigned by the official FERC renderer based mostly on kind places. Also, there are not any calculation to outline. In truth, customized calculations usually are not permitted. Validation guidelines will deal with consistency checks.
Since FERC taxonomy assigns specific hypercube to every schedule, there isn’t a outline structure to construct. For users of Workiva for FERC reporting, that is mechanically 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 information. Users of the Workiva answer for FERC reporting can simply assign row numbers in the kind schedules as “OrderNumber” within the Workiva platform. Lastly, there are not any custom dates as you’re restricted to a small record of allowable values.
SUBMISSION OF DATA AS INSTANCE DOCUMENT ONLY
Going ahead, there is no digital type 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 knowledge.
SUPPORTS REQUEST FOR CONFIDENTIAL DATA
Since most filing data to the SEC is public report, the SEC doesn’t provide this, however FERC does. Whether FERC will really approve a request for confidential knowledge is one other question! If you have an XBRL vendor for SEC reporting, make sure your vendor additionally supports FERC compliance, for the reason that FERC taxonomy is not going to be the same as the SEC reporting taxonomy.
PREPARE FOR YOUR NEEDS
Whether you outsource XBRL tagging, select an XBRL software program vendor, or make investments the time and money to construct and keep an in-house solution for FERC compliance, understanding the similarities and differences between XBRL filings for FERC and for the SEC might be crucial when evaluating your options.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Percy Hung is director of structured data initiatives and Peter Larison is manager of structured information initiatives at Workiva. Workiva, Inc. is a global software-as-a-service company. It provides a cloud-based related and reporting compliance platform that permits the use of related data and automation of reporting across finance, accounting, risk, and compliance. For more info, go to www.workiva.com
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