Energy companies will quickly start reporting quarterly and annual monetary and operational knowledge in XBRL format to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The XBRL format isn’t new for public companies which were submitting reports with XBRL tags to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for years, however the taxonomy for tagging FERC forms shall be different.
TIME TO EVALUATE YOUR OPTIONS
In many respects, the burden ought to be lighter for FERC filers than SEC filers. Both will depend 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 reports is represented by a price (numeric or non-numeric), components, date, unit, and accuracy.
But, as we element below, you’ll discover quite a couple of differences with FERC’s XBRL necessities.
pressure gauge octa permit for highly prescriptive tag assignments. That means no more tagging from scratch. For instance, the Workiva answer for FERC reporting supplies users with pre-tagged varieties. These standardized pre-tagged varieties not solely cut back preparation efforts considerably, they also minimize tagging inconsistencies—you can achieve greater knowledge quality with much less effort.
Also, you are not required to tag every quantity. 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, these could be tagged with a single textual content block for FERC. A bonus for users of the Workiva solution for SEC reporting and the Workiva solution for FERC reporting: You will be in a position to hyperlink data in your 10-K to your pre-tagged Form 1 for consistency and efficiency.
If no relevant XBRL idea is on the market, the data is not to be tagged. However, if an applicable idea exists, FERC requires the data to be tagged (both numeric and nonnumeric). Note that some required data may be reported within footnotes for schedules.
Additionally, no extensions are allowed. Besides concepts, axes and members are additionally to be used as provided. So, how do you report company-specific data, such as officer names? In order to help reporting of company-specific information, FERC makes use of the typed dimension.
The bonus for Workiva users? Although FERC uses a different technical specification, you will see the Workiva FERC reporting answer provides the identical look and feel as axis/member software 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 kind locations. Also, there aren’t any calculation to outline. In truth, customized calculations are not permitted. Validation rules will handle consistency checks.
Since FERC taxonomy assigns specific hypercube to every schedule, there is not a define structure to build. For users of Workiva for FERC reporting, that is automatically managed by the Workiva platform.
Plus, reality ordering isn’t managed by the define and is not required. FERC makes use of a numeric factor “OrderNumber” to control sequencing of company-specific information. Users of the Workiva solution for FERC reporting can simply assign row numbers within the type schedules as “OrderNumber” within the Workiva platform. Lastly, there are not any customized dates as you’re limited to a small listing of allowable values.
SUBMISSION OF DATA AS INSTANCE DOCUMENT ONLY
Going ahead, there is no digital kind to submit. Machine-readable knowledge is the key focus. Although not in iXBRL format, FERC’s official kind renderer will provide standardized viewing for the submitted XBRL knowledge.
SUPPORTS REQUEST FOR CONFIDENTIAL DATA
Since most submitting knowledge to the SEC is public report, the SEC doesn’t offer this, but FERC does. Whether FERC will really approve a request for confidential knowledge is another question! If you’ve an XBRL vendor for SEC reporting, ensure your vendor additionally supports FERC compliance, for the reason that FERC taxonomy will not be the identical because the SEC reporting taxonomy.
PREPARE FOR YOUR NEEDS
Whether you outsource XBRL tagging, choose an XBRL software vendor, or invest the time and money to construct and maintain an in-house solution for FERC compliance, understanding the similarities and variations between XBRL filings for FERC and for the SEC might be essential when evaluating your choices.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Percy Hung is director of structured data initiatives and Peter Larison is supervisor of structured data initiatives at Workiva. Workiva, Inc. is a global software-as-a-service company. It offers a cloud-based linked and reporting compliance platform that permits the usage of related data and automation of reporting throughout finance, accounting, risk, and compliance. For extra information, visit www.workiva.com
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