Energy companies will quickly start reporting quarterly and annual financial and operational data in XBRL format to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The XBRL format isn’t new for public corporations which have been submitting reports with XBRL tags to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for years, however the taxonomy for tagging FERC types will be completely 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 building blocks of XBRL implementation in enterprise reporting) and the Arelle open-source XBRL validation engine. And a “fact” in both reports is represented by a value (numeric or non-numeric), elements, date, unit, and accuracy.
But, as we detail beneath, you’ll discover fairly a few differences with FERC’s XBRL requirements.
SIMPLIFIED ELEMENT SELECTION
Standard schedules enable for extremely prescriptive tag assignments. That means no extra tagging from scratch. For example, the Workiva resolution for FERC reporting supplies customers with pre-tagged forms. These standardized pre-tagged varieties not only scale back preparation efforts significantly, in addition they reduce tagging inconsistencies—you can obtain greater data high quality with less effort.
Also, you are not required to tag every quantity. Notes to monetary statements require block tags solely. For ตัววัดแรงดัน , if disclosure notes are pasted into FERC Form 1 from the 10-K you file with the SEC, those could be tagged with a single text block for FERC. A bonus for users of the Workiva answer for SEC reporting and the Workiva solution for FERC reporting: You will be capable of hyperlink info in your 10-K to your pre-tagged Form 1 for consistency and efficiency.
If no applicable XBRL concept is out there, the information is not to be tagged. However, if an applicable idea exists, FERC requires the knowledge to be tagged (both numeric and nonnumeric). Note that some required data could also be reported inside footnotes for schedules.
Additionally, no extensions are allowed. Besides concepts, axes and members are additionally for use as provided. So, how do you report company-specific data, corresponding to officer names? In order to support reporting of company-specific info, FERC uses the typed dimension.
The bonus for Workiva users? Although FERC uses a unique technical specification, you will see the Workiva FERC reporting solution presents the identical appear and feel as axis/member application 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 form places. Also, there are not any calculation to outline. In truth, customized calculations are not permitted. Validation guidelines will handle 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 just isn’t managed by the outline and is not required. FERC uses a numeric element “OrderNumber” to control sequencing of company-specific information. Users of the Workiva resolution for FERC reporting can simply assign row numbers within the type schedules as “OrderNumber” in the Workiva platform. Lastly, there aren’t any custom dates as you’re limited to a small listing of allowable values.
SUBMISSION OF DATA AS INSTANCE DOCUMENT ONLY
Going forward, there is no digital form to submit. Machine-readable information is the key focus. Although not in iXBRL format, FERC’s official kind renderer will provide standardized viewing for the submitted XBRL data.
SUPPORTS REQUEST FOR CONFIDENTIAL DATA
Since most submitting knowledge to the SEC is public document, the SEC doesn’t provide this, but FERC does. Whether FERC will truly approve a request for confidential knowledge is another question! If you may have an XBRL vendor for SEC reporting, make certain your vendor additionally helps FERC compliance, for the rationale that FERC taxonomy will not be the identical because the SEC reporting taxonomy.
PREPARE FOR YOUR NEEDS
Whether you outsource XBRL tagging, select an XBRL software vendor, or make investments the money and time to build and keep an in-house resolution for FERC compliance, understanding the similarities and differences between XBRL filings for FERC and for the SEC might be crucial when evaluating your choices.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Percy Hung is director of structured information 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 linked and reporting compliance platform that enables the usage of connected knowledge and automation of reporting throughout finance, accounting, risk, and compliance. For extra information, visit www.workiva.com
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