Digital reporting glossary
3 minute read
This glossary is intended to support new users with the key terms of XBRL and taxonomies. More technical definitions are available in the Taxonomy documentation and guidance on the XBRL website, and using the XBRL Specifications.
Essential glossary
XBRL
A standard format for digital business reporting. XBRL lets financial and non-financial data be identified, structured and checked by software.
iXBRL
Inline XBRL. A format that embeds XBRL tags inside an HTML report, so the same document can be both human-readable and machine-readable.
Taxonomy
A dictionary and rulebook for an XBRL or iXBRL report. It defines the available reporting concepts, labels, relationships, dimensions and validation rules. In the UK, taxonomies are published by the Financial Reporting Council. Preparers must select the correct taxonomy for their reporting purpose.
Entry point
A specific starting file in a taxonomy. It loads the parts of the taxonomy needed for a particular reporting purpose. In the UK taxonomies, there are different entry points available for each accounting standard (e.g. FRS 101, FRS 102) and for some Companies House-specific forms (e.g. CIC-34, DSEP-AA06).
Report / instance
The XBRL or iXBRL document prepared by an entity. It contains the actual reported facts, such as profit, assets or company name.
Fact
A reported value linked to a taxonomy concept. A fact has a context which includes as period, entity, unit and dimensions.
Tagger
Software used to apply XBRL or iXBRL tags to a report.
Tagging
The process of linking information in a report to the correct taxonomy concept and context using tagger software.
iXBRL viewer
Software that displays an iXBRL report and allows users to inspect the embedded tags, facts and validation information alongside the published report. In the UK, users can use the free iXBRL viewer to view any Companies House digital filing.
Arelle
Open-source XBRL software used to load, inspect, validate and process XBRL and iXBRL reports and taxonomies. Offers GUI, command line, API, and Python tooling.
Taxonomy concept glossary
Concept
A defined reporting line item in a taxonomy (e.g. Current Assets, Profit (loss), Number of employees).
Concept label
Concepts may be referred to using their human-readable label (e.g. Current Assets). Concepts may also have more than one label available to better assist the user in understanding the purpose of the concept.
Concept qname
Concepts may be referred to using their qname (e.g. core:CurrentAssets). This is the concept’s technical name in the taxonomy files. Concepts will only ever have one qname.
Concept balance
An attribute that indicates whether a monetary concept normally has a debit or credit balance. For example, assets are usually debits; income is usually credit. Balances may assist the user in selecting the correct concept for their reporting requirements.
Concept period type
An attribute that says whether a concept relates to a point in time or a period of time. Period types may assist the user in selecting the correct concept for their reporting requirements.
- Instant concepts apply at a date (e.g. the value of Statement of Financial Position items are always reported at the date of the balance sheet – Current assets on 31 December 20xx)
- Duration concepts apply over a period (e.g. the value of Statement of Profit and Loss items are always reported for the whole year – Revenue for the current year).
Concept data type / XBRL type
The kind of value a concept can hold, such as monetary, string, boolean, date, decimal, percentage or shares. Data types may assist the user in selecting the correct concept for their reporting requirements.
Concept reference
A link from a taxonomy concept to an external source, such as an accounting standard, legislation or regulatory rule. References may assist the user in selecting the correct concept for their reporting requirements.
Namespace
A unique identifier used to distinguish concepts from different taxonomies or modules. It prevents names from clashing. In the UK taxonomies, namespaces include: core, common, bus, countries and direp. Namespaces are used in concept qnames (i.e. core:CurrentAssets, countries:UnitedKingdom, bus:UKCompaniesHouseRegisteredNumber).
Taxonomy relationships glossary
Presentation network
A tree view of the taxonomy that organises concepts for display in software. The UK taxonomies are organised in a hierarchy that reflects the order of an annual report’s sections and line items. Users can view the UK taxonomies using the Yeti viewer.
Definition network
The technical relationships between concepts, including hypercubes, dimensions, domains and members.
Hypercube
A table structure that defines which dimensions can apply to a set of concepts. It controls the valid dimensional combinations for facts. The UK taxonomies use closed hypercubes. This means that every line item concept belongs to at least one hypercube, and users cannot create their own taxonomy concepts (in the way that ESEF preparers can create extensions).
Dimension
A category of analytical detail that can be added to a fact; a column or dropdown list container. For example, a revenue fact might be reported by geographical area, product type or sales channel.
Dimension member
The content of the dimension; the options in the dropdown list. For example, the geographic segments dimension contains a list of countries as its members.