Answering Key Questions about Financial Reporting via MBRS in Malaysia #2 – what to include in XBRL financial statements

Following the lead in XBRL adoption, the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) has taken the initiative to develop MBRS (Malaysian Business Reporting System), a reporting and submission portal aligned with XBRL’s latest requirements and formats. The primary goal of introducing XBRL in MBRS is to eliminate the manual submission of annual returns and streamline the financial reporting process.

But what do you need to include in the XBRL financial statements? That’s the question of the hour.

Simply put, everything you submit in an annual manual filing needs to be included in a streamlined format and with the correct taxonomy. Read on to get a deeper understanding of the essentials of an XBRL financial statement.

Components of an XBRL Financial Statement

• The Taxonomy/Taxonomies

XBRL is a business reporting language with defined standard items for financial statements, known as taxonomies. To elaborate, a taxonomy integrates financial concepts wherein each concept is defined. Therefore, when working with an Annual Financial Statement (AFS) item, the taxonomy must include the definition of that element and its potential references.

For instance, the taxonomy must include the definition of cash and its potential references when reporting cash. These possible references demonstrate how cash may be related to other items in the AFS, such as Current Assets and Total Assets. All these items are financial concepts that must be defined and presented in the taxonomy elements. Financial data must be presented according to the latest XBRL format & schemes.

• The XBRL Instance Document

The XBRL instance document is a business report that consists of facts and figures in an electronic format and is based on the rules of XBRL and compliance requirements laid down by SSM. This business report also contains the attributes defined by elements in the taxonomy it refers to. Combined with their values and explanation, they are placed in the XBRL document.

Simply put, XBRL instances contain financial data that needs to be reported with their values and context. And this data must be linked to at least one taxonomy and define the context, label or references.

Tagging These Taxonomies/Elements is Just as Important

Tagging refers to applying your company’s unique financial data to an element within the taxonomy. This process must be performed during the formulation of the instance document.

Are You Prepared for the Revolution of Financial Reporting for MBRS?

The financial reporting revolution is just around the corner. The rumors about XBRL being mandated are all true. And soon, adopting it will no longer be an option. Before that happens, test the waters and crinkle out the errors.

And transitioning to XBRL is easy; you only need a reputed and trusted service provider. DataTracks is here to help. The financial experts at DataTracks are well-versed in Malaysian taxonomy and accounting principles. And not just that, DataTracks has successfully delivered over 200,000 reports in their reign of 16+ years. That makes DataTracks the ideal partner for XBRL services.

So what are you waiting for? Speak to an expert TODAY @ +60-392-126-125 or email @ enquiry@datatracks.my and take control of your financial reporting process.