Data-Quality Corner: highlights from SEC comment letters
As we discussed last week, comment letters from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) can be a useful resource – not just for the individual companies they are addressed to, but for many of us using Inline XBRL both stateside and elsewhere.
This month, we’re taking a trip into the archives to explore the kind of issues arising in SEC filings, and the small fixes that can make a big difference to the quality of reported data and its subsequent usefulness for analysis. For example, in a letter sent to Compass Diversified Holdings in August 2019, the SEC pinpoints the wrong tag being used. It notes that the company incorrectly tagged total net deferred tax liability with “usgaap_DeferredTaxAssetsLiabilitiesNet,” and requires the use of the appropriate tag in future filings. A good example of the importance of careful selection and review during the tagging process, and of the SEC’s role in oversight to ensure data quality.
Read the SEC comment letter here, or investigate all past letters and related filings using the EDGAR search tool and selecting ‘Filing review correspondence’ under ‘Filing category’ in ‘more search options.’ Once again: tagging matters.
