Energy firms will soon begin reporting quarterly and annual monetary and operational data in XBRL format to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The XBRL format isn’t new for public companies that have been submitting reports with XBRL tags to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for years, however the taxonomy for tagging FERC forms might be completely different.
TIME TO EVALUATE YOUR OPTIONS
In many respects, the burden must be lighter for FERC filers than SEC filers. Both will depend on the XBRL 2.1 Specification (which defines the fundamental constructing blocks of XBRL implementation in enterprise reporting) and the Arelle open-source XBRL validation engine. And a “fact” in each reports is represented by a value (numeric or non-numeric), elements, date, unit, and accuracy.
But, as we detail beneath, you’ll discover quite a number of variations with FERC’s XBRL requirements.
SIMPLIFIED ELEMENT SELECTION
Standard schedules enable for highly prescriptive tag assignments. That means no more tagging from scratch. For instance, the Workiva solution for FERC reporting supplies users with pre-tagged types. เกจวัดแรงดันปั๊มลมpuma standardized pre-tagged varieties not solely cut back preparation efforts significantly, additionally they reduce tagging inconsistencies—you can obtain higher knowledge high quality with much less effort.
Also, you are not required to tag each number. Notes to monetary statements require block tags only. For instance, if disclosure notes are pasted into FERC Form 1 from the 10-K you file with the SEC, those would be tagged with a single text block for FERC. A bonus for users of the Workiva resolution for SEC reporting and the Workiva answer for FERC reporting: You will have the power to hyperlink data in your 10-K to your pre-tagged Form 1 for consistency and effectivity.
If no relevant XBRL idea is available, the knowledge is to not be tagged. However, if an relevant idea exists, FERC requires the knowledge to be tagged (both numeric and nonnumeric). Note that some required info may be reported inside footnotes for schedules.
Additionally, no extensions are allowed. Besides concepts, axes and members are also for use as offered. So, how do you report company-specific information, such as officer names? In order to assist reporting of company-specific info, FERC makes use of the typed dimension.
The bonus for Workiva users? Although FERC makes use of a different technical specification, you will notice the Workiva FERC reporting answer presents the identical look and feel as axis/member software in the Workiva resolution for SEC reporting.
NO OUTLINE MANAGEMENT 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 areas. Also, there are not any calculation to define. In reality, custom calculations are not permitted. Validation rules will deal with consistency checks.
Since FERC taxonomy assigns specific hypercube to every schedule, there is not any define structure to build. For customers of Workiva for FERC reporting, this is mechanically managed by the Workiva platform.
Plus, truth ordering just isn’t managed by the define and isn’t required. FERC uses a numeric element “OrderNumber” to manage sequencing of company-specific info. Users of the Workiva resolution for FERC reporting can easily assign row numbers in the type schedules as “OrderNumber” in the Workiva platform. Lastly, there aren’t any customized dates as you’re restricted to a small record of allowable values.
SUBMISSION OF DATA AS INSTANCE DOCUMENT ONLY
Going forward, there is not a digital type 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 filing information to the SEC is public record, the SEC doesn’t supply this, but FERC does. Whether FERC will really approve a request for confidential knowledge is one other question! If you may have an XBRL vendor for SEC reporting, make sure your vendor also supports FERC compliance, since the 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 program vendor, or invest the time and money to construct and keep an in-house answer for FERC compliance, understanding the similarities and differences between XBRL filings for FERC and for the SEC shall be crucial when evaluating your options.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Percy Hung is director of structured information initiatives and Peter Larison is supervisor of structured information initiatives at Workiva. Workiva, Inc. is a worldwide software-as-a-service company. It supplies a cloud-based linked and reporting compliance platform that allows the utilization of linked knowledge and automation of reporting across finance, accounting, danger, and compliance. For extra information, go to www.workiva.com
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