IASB to consider digital in new disclosure design
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has this week completed the Targeted Standards-level review of Disclosure Project, designed to discover an improved approach to developing new disclosure standards. The new approach explicitly includes consideration of digital reporting implications in the design of new disclosure requirements.
This will mean that proposed new disclosure requirements are worded in a way that can be easily incorporated into the IFRS Accounting Taxonomy, improving disclosure proposals (such as by more clearly specifying the information required) and drawing on common reporting practices to improve wording or examples for clarity. IFRS Accounting taxonomy elements will only be created for information required by an Accounting Standard, with linked disclosure objectives in mind and, finally, the IFRS Digital Reporting team will also review the drafting of proposed disclosure requirements.
Of course, the focus on the digital implications of specific standards is just one part of a wider set of decisions. The fundamental aim of the IASB’s project on reevaluating the way that disclosure standards are designed and developed is clarity – for investors, and to help companies provide more material information. Here at XBRL International we welcome the focus on digital reporting. As digital, machine-readable reporting is increasingly the standard world-wide, it’s crucial that standards setters and regulators take digital into account every step of the way in the development of their disclosure requirements, ensure that resulting reports provide high quality, comparable information.
Read more here and read the IASB guidance for developing standards here.
