XBRL format for Financial Statment:
XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) is a language for electronic communication of business and financial data which is revolutionising business reporting around the world. It offers major benefits to all those who have to create, transmit, use or analyse such information.
Companies can use XBRL to save costs and streamline their processes for collecting and reporting financial information. Consumers of financial data, including investors, analysts, financial institutions and regulators, can receive, find, compare and analyse data much more rapidly and efficiently if it is in XBRL format.
XBRL can handle data in different languages and accounting standards. It can flexibly be adapted to meet different requirements and uses. Data can be transformed into XBRL by suitable mapping tools or it can be generated in XBRL by appropriate software
The following class of companies have to file the Financial Statements in XBRL Form only from the year 2010-2011 :-
(i) All companies listed in India and their subsidiaries, including overseas subsidiaries;
(ii) All companies having a paid up capital of Rs. 5 Crore and above or a Turnover of Rs. 100 crore or above .
eXtensible Business Reporting Language(XBRL) is the result of the quest for a solution in the area of business Reporting along with the capabilities of XML for electronically reporting of information. XBRL has emerged as a popular and effective alternative for reporting and analysis. In December 2008, the Indian XBRL Jurisdiction (XBRL India) was constituted by Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, as a formal forum for encouraging the adoption of XBRL in India.
XBRL to be made mandatory for filing returns by companies. The ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) has decided to make it mandatory for companies to file their returns with the Registrar of Companies using XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language), according to two ministry officials with knowledge of the matter.
“The first phase of filing returns using XBRL will be effective from 1 July and later it will be extended to all 900,000 companies,” said an MCA official, who did not want to be identified. The ministry will decide which class of companies will be asked to adopt XBRL first in a couple of days, the official said.
Migrating to XBRL, a computer language used for reporting financial statements,
will eventually help companies report their accounts based on standards similar
to the International Financial Reporting Standards notified by MCA last week. Companies will be spared from making separate filings with other regulators and stock exchanges as a common database will be created. The ministry, in turn, will have a tool to easily detect wrong and inadequate data filed by companies and take remedial measures.
Publicly traded companies and companies above a certain size, in terms of net worth, will be asked to file their returns using XBRL in the first phase, according to another MCA official. “The ministry will take a call soon and makean announcement to that effect,” he said.
All firms have to electronically file documents such as annual reports, balance sheets, dates of incorporation, change in directors and shareholding patterns with MCA 21, the ministry’s website, which was started in 2006. Available in the public domain these data are used by investors, professionals, shareholders and researchers, among others.
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), the nation’s biggest computer software services provider, was tasked with the implementation of the MCA 21 project. The company is already in the process of making the platform XBRL ready. XBRL was conceived in 1998 and has been adopted by more than 100 countries. “It should be ready within the next couple of months to align it with MCA’s deadline,” said a software industry executive familiar with the development. He declined to be identified. “TCS will ready the entire platform at one go, making it easier for the next batch of companies to move to XBRL, when mandated by MCA.”XBRL will not only allow better organization of data in strict standardized formats, but will also help detect fraudulent entries and calculations, said the first MCA official cited earlier.