Table of Contents

This glossary defines terms for concepts that are commonly referenced when discussing XBRL and electronic business reporting implementations. These terms are the preferred terms to be used in guidance materials produced by XBRL International's Best Practices Board, and are recommended for all business-orientated documents.

In some cases, this glossary provides alternatives for the technical terms defined in the XBRL specifications, which are to be preferred for non-technical use. Where equivalent technical terms exist they are noted as comments in square brackets which can safely be ignored for non-technical use.

For technical use, the terminology defined in the XBRL specifications should be used.

1 Glossary

Anchoring

Anchoring links an extension element created by a preparer, to an appropriate element in a base taxonomy. An example of anchoring is the wider/narrower relationship that defines an extension concept to be either wider or narrower in meaning or scope than the base taxonomy concept to which it is linked. Analysts, regulators and other users can use anchoring information to better interpret and compare information collected through the use of extension elements.

Base taxonomy

A taxonomy that is used as the starting point for an extension taxonomy.

Block tag

A single fact that contains the content of an entire section of a report. A block tag may include text, numeric values, tables and other data. A block tag provides the contents of the section as a single fact, rather than tagging each item contained within it as separate facts. A block tag is a type of text block that allows for less granular reporting.

Built-in dimension

Dimensions that are defined by the XBRL specification, and which are required for all facts (depending on their datatype). For example, the "period" built-in dimension defines the date or period in time to which a fact relates, and the "unit" built-in dimension defines the units, such as a monetary currency, in which a numeric fact is reported. Taxonomies may add additional dimensions, referred to as taxonomy-defined dimensions [technical term: "core dimension"].

Business report

Any document that is used to convey information in order to satisfy a specific reporting requirement. Business reports are typically periodic in nature and can include company annual reports, risk reports, tax reports and internal enterprise performance reports. Business reports may include tabular data, descriptive text, individual numeric facts, charts, graphs, or any combination of the above.

Business validation rules

Validation rules that are backed by requirements from the underlying business domain. Examples of business validation rules include checking that an appropriate currency has been used for monetary facts, checking that mandatory facts have been reported, and checking that numeric values pass appropriate calculation checks. Business validation rules may be included in a taxonomy as XBRL formula rules, enabling XBRL software to automatically check the quality of an XBRL report. These are included to improve data quality in a reporting programme.

Calculation tree

Relationships between concepts in a taxonomy for the purpose of describing and validating simple totals and subtotals. [At a technical level, these relationships are defined using the summation-item arcrole in the XBRL specification]

Closed reporting

A reporting programme in which the set of data points that is to be reported is prescribed completely by the collector of the reports. The process to be followed by a preparer in a closed reporting programme is analogous to completing a paper form, as the boxes that may be completed are prescribed completely by the creator of the form (although as with paper forms, closed reporting programmes may include specific points of flexibility, such as where rows in a table may be repeated as many times as required).

Collector

A person or organisation that receives or retrieves XBRL reports for the purpose of collecting and/or analysing the data within them. Collectors may include (but are not limited to) regulators and other government agencies, stock exchanges collecting financials from listed companies, banks collecting credit risk reports, and companies collecting financial data for consolidation.

Concept

A taxonomy element that provides the meaning for a fact. For example, "Profit", "Turnover", and "Assets" would be typical concepts. [approximate technical term: concept (XBRL v2.1) or primary item (XBRL Dimensions). Concept, as defined here, excludes header and structural element. The term "Line Item" will sometimes be used to refer to a concept.]

Consumer

Final end users of the information collected in XBRL reports.

Cube

A multi-dimensional definition of related data synonymous with a business intelligence or data warehousing "cube". A cube is defined by combining a set of dimensions with a set of concepts. Cubes are often referred to as "hypercubes", as unlike a physical, 3-dimensional cube, a hypercube may have any number of dimensions. [Approximate technical term: "hypercube". Cube here is used to mean the combination of hypercubes in a single base set]

Data point

Definition of an item that can be reported in an XBRL report. In technical terms, this is the combination a concept and a number of dimension values. A value may be reported against a data point to give a fact.

Default member

See dimension default.

Definitional taxonomy

A taxonomy that defines a dictionary of elements that is available for use in reporting taxonomies, and which is not meant to be referenced directly by an XBRL report.
For example, an accounting standard setter may provide a definitional taxonomy containing all concepts, and separate reporting taxonomies for different industries or company types.

Dimensional structure

The definition of cubes within a taxonomy.

Dimension

A qualifying characteristic that is used to uniquely define a data point. For example, a fact reporting revenue may be qualified by a "geography" dimension, to indicate the region to which the revenue relates. A dimension may be either a taxonomy-defined dimension or a built-in dimension. [Technical term: "Aspect"]

Dimension default

A domain member that provides a default value for a dimension for facts where the dimension is not reported explicitly. The dimension default typically represents the total of all members for that dimension. Also referred to as a default member.

Dimension value

A value taken by a particular dimension when defining a data point. For example, the dimension value for the period built-in dimension would be a specific date or date range, the dimension value for an explicit taxonomy-defined dimension is a domain member and the dimension value for a typed taxonomy-defined dimension is a value that is valid against the format that has been specified in the taxonomy.

Domain

A domain is a set of related values. Examples of different domains for use on a "geography" dimension would be "Countries", "Continents" or "States". In XBRL, domains are defined using taxonomy elements that are used to group domain members.

Domain member

An element representing one of the possibilities within a domain. These may be used as possible values for explicit taxonomy-defined dimensions or enumerations.

Entity-specific disclosure

Disclosures included in a report that are specific to the reporting entity, or to a small number of reporting entities. Such disclosures require special handling in XBRL as it is not practical for the base taxonomy to include the concepts and domain members needed to report all such disclosures for all entities. In order to facilitate the tagging of such disclosures, mechanisms such as entity-specific extension taxonomies may be used. Entity-specific disclosures are common in open reporting environments, but do not occur in closed reporting environments.

Entity-specific extension taxonomy

An extension taxonomy that is created by the preparer of an XBRL report in order to disclose information that is specific to the reporting entity (see entity-specific disclosure).

Enumeration

Enumerations are a taxonomy-defined ordered list of values for a fact. When a concept is defined to be an enumeration type, then the preparer can only report value(s) from this list. For more information, see the enumerations in XBRL guidance.

Extension element

A taxonomy element that is defined in an extension taxonomy. The term "extension element" is preferred over the less precise "extension".

Extension taxonomy

A taxonomy that is constructed using one or more other taxonomies (a base taxonomy) as a starting point. Extension taxonomies are typically created by a different entity from the author of the base taxonomy. Extension taxonomies may be created by preparers (see entity-specific extension taxonomy) , or they may be created by a collector making use of a taxonomy from a third party such as an accounting standards body.

Fact

A fact is an individual piece of information in an XBRL report. A fact is represented by reporting a value against a concept (e.g., profit, assets), and associating it with a number of dimension values (e.g., units, entity, period, other dimensions) that together uniquely define a data point.

Filing

The file or set of files that is submitted to a collector. This will include an XBRL report and may include an extension taxonomy.

Filing guidance

These are additional instructions and material usually provided in conjunction with filing rules, giving guidance that helps preparers to create filings correctly. For example, this might include guidance on selecting concepts or the scope of the tagging that should be applied. In general, the application of filing guidance cannot be automatically validated, and needs the judgement of the preparer to apply.

Filing rules

Validation rules that are driven by the technical requirements of the reporting programme in order to ensure interoperability. Examples of filing rules include specifying which versions and modules of the XBRL specifications may be used in filings, any applicable file size limits, restrictions on if and how extension taxonomies should be constructed. Filing rules will usually be enforced by the collector's submission system.

Header

Taxonomy elements that are used to provide headings and guidance in a concept hierarchy, such as the presentation tree. It is not possible to report a fact using a header element. [approximate technical term: "abstract element"]

Inline XBRL

See iXBRL report. The terms Inline XBRL and iXBRL are used interchangeably.

iXBRL report

A single document that combines structured, computer-readable data with the preparer's presentation using the iXBRL (or Inline XBRL) standard. An iXBRL report provides the same XBRL data as other XBRL report formats, but embeds it into an HTML document that can be viewed in a web browser. By linking structured data and human-readable presentation into a single document, iXBRL provides the benefits of computer-readable structured data whilst enabling preparers to retain full control over the presentation of their reports.

Label

A human readable description of a taxonomy component. XBRL labels can be defined in multiple languages and can be of multiple types, such as a "standard label", which provides a concise name for the component, or a "documentation label" which provides a more complete definition of the component.

Open Information Model (OIM)

A strategic initiative to simplify and modernise XBRL. This initiative also produced the xBRL-JSON and xBRL-CSV report formats. For more information see Introducing the OIM.

Open reporting

An environment where a preparer must make their own decisions about exactly which data points are to be reported. This is commonly found in financial reporting where the reporting requirements are expressed as a set of principles that must be followed, rather than a specific set of data points that must be reported. Open reporting environments may allow preparers to provide an extension taxonomy that defines any additional data points needed, although there are other approaches to implementing open reporting with XBRL.

Non-automatable rules

Non-automatable rules are those which are mandatory but which cannot reasonably be enforced automatically. These would typically be checked using a manual or semi-automated process. An example of a non-automatable rule is, "A calculation tree must be defined if the preparer's presentation shows two or more line items along with their net or total."

Preparer

A person or organisation that creates XBRL reports.

Preparer's presentation

The human-readable presentation of a business report. The term is used to refer to the report as it would be presented on paper, PDF or HTML.
This term is of particular relevance in open reporting environments, where preparers typically have significant control over the layout and presentation of a report. An iXBRL report embeds XBRL data into an HTML document, allowing a single document to provide both the preparer's presentation and structured data from an XBRL report.

Presentation tree

The organisation of taxonomy elements into a hierarchical structure with the aim of providing a means of visualising or navigating the taxonomy. [At a technical level, the presentation tree is defined using the parent-child arcrole in the XBRL specification]

Reference

A piece of structured information attached to a taxonomy component that provides a link to external information about the element. References are typically used to provide links to the definition of a taxonomy component in authoritative literature, such as the relevant accounting standard or legislation. A taxonomy component may have any number of references associated with it. Each reference is composed of a number of reference parts.

Reference part

An individual component of a reference, for example "Chapter 4", or "Paragraph 3". The XBRL standard provides a number of standard reference part types, such as "Article", "Chapter" and "Section". If necessary, taxonomies can define additional reference part types.

Reporting taxonomy

A taxonomy used to define the contents of an XBRL report and against which reports are validated. Intended to be used directly by an XBRL report. See also, definitional taxonomy.

Structural element

Taxonomy elements that are technical constructs for cubes, dimensions, domain and domain members.

Tagging

The process of creating an XBRL report through selection of XBRL concepts, dimensions and other information and application to values in an existing business report in order to create facts. Tagging is one possible approach to the creation of XBRL reports.

Taxonomy

A taxonomy links and defines a number of taxonomy components that provide the meaning for facts in an XBRL report. For example, a taxonomy for an accounting standard would include definitions of concepts such as "Profit", "Turnover", and "Assets". Taxonomies may contain a very rich set of information, including multi-language labels, links (known as references) to authoritative definitions (for example, accounting standards or relevant local laws), validation rules and other relationships. Physically, a taxonomy is usually stored in a set of files hosted on a website.

Taxonomy architect

A person responsible for making design decisions that are applied across a taxonomy.

Taxonomy author

A person or organisation who is responsible for defining the content of a taxonomy.

Taxonomy owner

A person or organisation who is responsible for maintaining taxonomy content and taxonomy design/structure. A taxonomy owner may also be a collector, or may be a third party such as an accounting standards body.

Taxonomy component

Anything that can be defined in a taxonomy.

Taxonomy-defined dimension

A dimension that is defined by a taxonomy, as opposed to a built-in dimension. This can be defined to provide any additional qualification needed to fully identify a fact. For example, a taxonomy-defined dimension could be used to indicate that a fact relates to a specific geographic region. A taxonomy-defined dimension may be either "explicit", in which case the taxonomy defines a list of allowed dimension values (e.g. a list of countries), or "typed", in which case the taxonomy defines the format for dimension values (e.g. the format for a postal code).

Taxonomy element

A subset of taxonomy components which may be included in the standard tree structures, such as the presentation tree and calculation tree. This includes concepts, header and structural element. [Technical term: "concept definition", corresponding to an XML element declaration in the xbrli:item or xbrli:tuple substitution group]

Taxonomy entry point

A taxonomy entry point identifies a subset (or "view") of a taxonomy. Taxonomies will often provide multiple views for different, related reporting purposes. For example, a taxonomy may cater for different industries reporting under the same accounting standard. A taxonomy entry point is identified by a unique URL (or set of URLs), and is what is referenced by an XBRL report or an extension taxonomy.

Text block

A text tag that contains narrative text. In some reporting programmes, text blocks may include markup such as tables. Where a text block is used as an alternative to more granular tagging, it is referred to as a block tag.

Text tag

A fact that contains textual information. Text tags that contain narrative text are sometimes referred to as text blocks.

Validation rules

Rules that can be applied automatically to XBRL reports in order to ensure quality and interoperability. Validation rules can be either business validation rules or filing rules.

XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language)

Family of specifications used for digital business reporting.

xBRL-CSV report

A type of XBRL Report that uses the simple and efficient CSV file format. Due to its compact size, xBRL-CSV is particularly well suited to tabular reports with a large number of facts.

xBRL-JSON report

A type of XBRL Report that uses the widely-supported JSON syntax. The xBRL-JSON format is designed to be simple and easy-to-consume, and is ideal for publishing XBRL data for automated consumption and analysis.

xBRL-XML report

A type of XBRL Report that uses XML syntax. The well-established xBRL-XML format is defined by the XBRL v2.1 Specification.

XBRL formula rules

Validation rules defined in a taxonomy using the XBRL Formula specification. These are applied by XBRL processors in addition to XBRL validation [Technical term: XBRL Formula Assertion]

XBRL report

A business report prepared using the XBRL standard. An XBRL report is the file that contains the data that is to be reported in an XBRL filing programme. A report refers to a specific taxonomy entry point and it is the combination of the XBRL report and the taxonomy that enables the contents of an XBRL report to be fully understood. The XBRL standard defines a number of different formats for XBRL Reports, including Inline XBRL, xBRL-XML, xBRL-CSV and xBRL-JSON. [Technical term: Instance document]

XBRL reporting template

A tabular view of a taxonomy or report that is used for presentation or data entry purposes. XBRL reporting templates can support complex, multi-dimensional reports, such as those seen in prudential reporting, and provide a business user-friendly view of the data. XBRL reporting templates are typically used in closed reporting programmes, where a template is prescribed by the collector. [At a technical level, XBRL reporting templates are defined using the Table Linkbase specification]

XBRL validation

Rules defined by the XBRL specifications that must be adhered to by all XBRL reports and taxonomies. The rules for XBRL reports ensure a base level of document validity, for example, ensuring that any concepts used in the XBRL report are defined by the corresponding taxonomy, ensuring that monetary concepts have numeric values and currency units, and that facts use combinations of dimensions that are valid according to the dimensional structure defined in the taxonomy. Additional validation rules can be defined in a taxonomy as XBRL formula rules.

2 Other terms in technical or common use

There are many technical terms in common use which taken from or derived from the XBRL technical specifications. These terms are often based on the syntax that is used to define the technical constructs, rather than the business purpose that they serve which can make them cumbersome and unintuitive for general use.

Such terms are included here for completeness, and where possible are linked to the closest corresponding definition in the glossary. The descriptions provided here are not intended to replace the definitions of terms provided in the relevant XBRL specification.

Extension

When using the term "extension" it is better to use either extension element or extension taxonomy.

Hypercube

See cube.

Instance document

See XBRL report.

Linkbase

Technical construct that defines relationships, for example, those used to create a presentation tree or calculation tree.

Namespace

A namespace is a globally unique identifier that differentiate names created by different sources. In XBRL usage, namespaces are used to disambiguate the taxonomy element names defined in taxonomies. For example, different regional accounting standards might define a concept called "Profit". Namespaces are used to differentiate the UK GAAP definition of "Profit" from the US GAAP definition of "Profit". Namespaces are URIs, which are identifiers that follow the same format as URLs, which are used to locate resources on the internet.

Namespace Prefix

Namespace prefixes are a shorthand notation to represent namespaces. When representing the name of taxonomy element, it is common to use a notation such as "ifrs-full:Profit". In this case "ifrs-full" is a shorthand for the "http://xbrl.ifrs.org/taxonomy/2016-03-31/ifrs-full" namespace. Namespace prefixes must be defined in the document in which they are used, and may be used to represent different namespaces in different documents.

Report Package

The standard distribution format for an XBRL report. For more information, see the guidance on Understanding Report Packages. The file extension ".xbri" is used for Inline XBRL reports and the ".xbr" extension is used for all other XBRL reports.

Taxonomy Package

The standard distribution format for a taxonomy. For more information, see the taxonomy package practice profile.