Here we are – reportfactory® tagging tool can be tested now!
OVERVIEW & FEATURES
The ReportFactory© Tagging tool allows for tagging of electronic financial reports in Inline XBRL (iXBRL) format.
The bolt-on software provides functionality to extend existing report creation processes for paper and online reports towards digital reports. These digital reports can be analysed by software in an automated way, but they still provide professional human-readable layout.
Tagging tool meets the requirements of ESMA according to the ESEF (European Single Electronic Format). For this purpose, it provides all required features like import of layout formats, tagging and anchoring, taxonomy extensions, as well as validation and consistency checks.
ESEF REQUIREMENTS / TARGET GROUPS
Hybrid formats advancing
With iXBRL ESMA has launched a hybrid format for company reports.
Hybrid formats can be read by humans and machines (software).
Before hybrid formats came into play, readability of electronic reports was problematic because they were displayed differently by varying software products.
The problem is solved by embedding of machine readably information (tags) in digital reports.
Comparable hybrid formats are currently advancing in the area of electronic invoicing.
Starting in 2020 ESMA has introduced the „European Single Electronic Format“ (ESEF) for companies oriented towards capital markets.
Thereby the Transparency Directive from the year 2013 was implemented, which defines rules for preparing annual financial reports.
Consolidated IFRS statements have to be tagged and published in the machine readable format iXBRL. The reporting obligation aims at improved comparability and facilitates automated analysis.
Affected companies should prepare for the electronic format in time!
In the first two years only the primary financial statements have to be tagged in a machine readable manner. These are statement of financial position, income statement, cash flow statement and statement of changes in equity. Afterwards the scope will be extended.
The ESEF filing rules are referred to as RTS (Regulatory Technical Standard). The rules have both business and technical background and need to be met by companies and software vendors.
Target groups for our software are in the first place companies with reporting obligations, besides that media agencies and auditors.
TOP 10 FEATURES AT A GLANCE
No process change/
Your reporting process may remain unchanged. Parallel to the existing process you can create tags and publish the tagged report together with its related print/PDF report.
Tagging/
Tagging is done intuitively by drag and drop. All of the taggin properties are prominent and visible. Properties can be modified for any number of selected tags at once.
Taxonomy extension/
Individual positions are required for almost every company report. Extensions to IFRS taxonomy are made easily without requiring obtaining technical skills.
Validity checks/
Due to the instant validation that occurs during tagging, errors are reported immediately preventing any follow-up issues. Naturally, all validations are done in an ESEF-compliant way.
Roll-forward/
For reports of subsequent years, all included tags are automatically rolled-forward. Only modified position names and new positions need to be (re)tagged.
Data import/
Input formats such as PDF and HTML are converted into iXBRL while preserving its layout and style. Referenced media files (e.g. images) are embedded.
Artificial Intelligence/
During the tagging you are supported by our AI (Artificial Intelligence) via smart proposals. This increases efficiency and avoids mistakes. All proposals can be accepted as is or adjusted manually.
Anchoring/
Anchoring of individual positions according to ESEF requirements is accomplished via mapping to positions from the IFRS taxonomy.
Report Package / Filing/
A report package is created for filing submission. All filing constituents (including taxonomy extension and related media) are assembled in a single package.
License or subscription/
There are two options for software usage:
Pay a one-off license fee plus yearly maintenance (best mid-term pricing) or pick a casual yearly subscription.
USABILITY FIRST!
USABILITY is written in all caps in ReportFactory© software tools.
Imported company reports are displayed without any changes – they exactly the same as they are displayed on your website after publishing.
Even complex features are made simple in the intuitive graphical user interface. The modern design of menu ribbons was inspired by office applications.
Tagging is done quickly via drag and drop. All properties of a tag are displayed in a comprehensively designed calculator panel where they can be edited directly.
The IFRS taxonomy is illustrated in a compact and understandable way.
Calculation rules and links to drilldown sections are integrated into the taxonomy panel.
By means of an analysis view users understand how analysis software reads and analyses tagged data. Along with instant validation this ensures an error-free creation of tagged reports.
Briefly
- WYSIWYG – What You See Is What You Get
- Intuitive user interface with ribbon toolbar
- Tag properties in calculator design
- Taxonomy view including calculation & drill-down
- Understand tags from an analyst‘s perspective
- Instant and ESEF-compliant validation markers
CERTIFIED SOFTWARE
When it comes to ESEF validity checks, lots of well-established but complex e-Reporting standards are used. That’s why conformance and quality are key issues. Related standards are developed and certified by XBRL International.
Both our creation software for electronic reports ReportFactory© as well as it’s integrated reporting engine ABRA TE are certified by XBRL International. The engine is integrated into many products of ABZ and our customers and is proven for reliable processing of large amount of data.
WHEN AND HOW TO TAG?
The format iXBRL is a hybrid format. It is readable both by human and software at the same time.
The creation implies technical hurdles to the creator which need to be overcome.
iXBRL consists of two components: XHTML a layout format for web pages, supplemented by machine readable information (tags) with analysis data being extracted from the latter.
Hurdles when creating iXBRL
Current software tools for graphic designers and design agencies for creation of company reports produce either PDF for print reports or HTML for online reports.
These tools are not aware of iXBRL nor tags. This causes the risk when editing that tags are lost (even for small layout edits)!
Reduce potential risks
ReportFactory provides support for conversion of PDF and HTML to XHTML/iXBRL. This is the critical media transition.
Formats from preliminary stages (for instance MS Word, MS Excel, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Dreamweaver) are typically converted without any problem from appropriate software to PDF or rather HTML.
When importing data of new versions in Report Factory, tags are preserved. Furthermore, the complete version history is stored amongst all saved changes. So users can restore old versions when necessary.
Publishing is either done via sending a filing to the national OAM (Officially Appointed Mechanism) and/or at the website of an enterprise. For the latter the so called Report Package needs to be extracted.
