FASB Issues Proposed 2012 GAAP Taxonomy for XBRL
FASB on Thursday released the proposed 2012 U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy for public review and comment. Comments are due Oct. 31. The 2012 U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy is expected to be finalized and published in early 2012.
The taxonomy is a list of computer-readable financial reporting labels coded in extensible business reporting language (XBRL), an open-source computer language that allows companies to tag precisely the thousands of pieces of financial data included in typical long-form financial statements and related footnote disclosures. The tags allow users of financial statements to electronically search for, assemble, and process data so that the data can be readily accessed and analyzed by investors, analysts, journalists and regulators.
According to a FASB press release, the proposed 2012 U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy contains updates for accounting standards and other recommended improvements to the official taxonomy, which is used by public issuers registered with the SEC. The board said the 60-day comment period is intended to solicit feedback on the updates from users of the taxonomy and to provide SEC filers, service providers, software vendors and other interested parties with the opportunity to become familiar with and suggest revisions to the taxonomy, including incorporating new elements for current filings.
The taxonomy proposal and instructions on how to submit comments are available on FASB’s XBRL page. For more information about using the taxonomy for creating and submitting XBRL-tagged interactive data files in compliance with SEC rules, go to the commission’s XBRL portal.
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