Defining Mandatory Fact Rules? New guidance available.
The use of XBRL can greatly enhance data quality in a reporting ecosystem through the use of automated validation rules. Such rules often include “mandatory fact” rules — facts that are required to be included in every report. The Taxonomy Architecture Guidance Task Force (TAGTF) under the leadership of XBRL International’s Best Practices Board has published draft guidance on how to specify such mandatory fact rules.
The new guidance provides recommendations on the most effective way to define and document such rules so that they can be applied automatically by preparers, and built into software packages.
The guidance is targeted towards data collectors and forms part of a growing body of guidance materials available to those seeking to implement an XBRL-based data collection system. The document includes illustrative examples, which can be adapted to meet the specific needs of individual reporting programmes.
The Task Force is actively seeking feedback on this guidance document and would like to hear if there are other effective approaches for specifying mandatory fact rules not discussed in the guidance. Please send your feedback and comments to the TAGTF.
The mandatory fact rules guidance can be found in the guidance area of the XBRL website (Members Only).
