Introduction to digital reporting

Digital reporting is changing how company information is prepared, shared and used.

Digital reporting is now a standard part of corporate reporting in the UK. To use it well, it’s important to understand what sits behind the files that are prepared, filed and reused across the market.

A basic level of understanding supports better data quality, more effective review, and more informed use of reported information by investors, regulators, auditors and others. It also helps ensure digital reports are not just compliant, but usable, comparable and fit for an increasingly data‑driven reporting environment.Instead of being locked in static documents like PDFs, financial and non‑financial information can be published in structured, machine‑readable formats that computers can read, check and compare.

This section introduces the key ideas behind digital reporting and explains how it works in practice using XBRL – the global standard for digital business reports. It’s designed to give you just enough context to understand what digital reporting is, why it matters, and what role it plays in today’s UK reporting landscape, before exploring the journey in more detail.

What is digital reporting?

This page introduces digital reporting.

What is XBRL?

This page covers what is XBRL.

Roles in the digital reporting process

This page considers what are the different roles in digital reporting.

What does a digital report look like?

This page shows what a digital report looks like with XBRL.