Overcoming Challenges of Reporting iXBRL instance documents to CIPC

Since the mandatory introduction of iXBRL in 2018, South Africa-based companies have faced several challenges related to filing AFS in iXBRL instance documents to the CIPC. Companies are focused on complying with the CIPC’s mandatory requirements but are thrown off track by the short-term challenges that iXBRL brings.

However, finance and tax functions should not ignore the long-term implication of the iXBRL instance document. The adoption of iXBRL has provided real opportunities to transform compliance, reporting, and accounts productions. For that, if some challenges have to be overcome along the way, so be it.

Common iXBRL instance reporting challenges:

• iXBRL  instance Tagging Is Complicated

There are many values in a financial statement, and every figure needs to be accurately tagged. Tagging them manually is a tedious and time-consuming task. However, an investment in an iXBRL instant software solution can take care of these technical details and make financial reporting quick and efficient.

• Multiple Tagging Can Be Tedious

A single value in a financial statement may represent multiple facts corresponding to different periods or concepts. In such cases, the same piece of data needs to be tagged multiple times.

For instance, while representing Earning Per Share (EPS), the disclosure is reported twice, once while recording basic EPS and the second while providing a footnote explaining how it was calculated.

So the same value needs to be tagged multiple times by nesting tags in the iXBRL instance document. This can seem overwhelming if you have no prior experience working with iXBRL instances.

 iXBRL Instance – Solution?

Find someone with prowess and an in-depth understanding of every intricacy in iXBRL. Whether you hire an in-house expert on an outsource service provider, ensure that they have the requisite software requirements to handle multiple accounts at once.

• Scaling Numeric Values Can Result In Inaccurate Information

A financial statement is full of numeric values, and these figures are often scaled to make them more readable. For instance, the consolidated income statement may present figures in millions, whereas another financial report may present values in thousands.

This often results in inaccurate calculations or misrepresentations of financial data.

Solution?

Specify the scale to which these values are reported so they can be converted into the correct value when iXBRL data is extracted.

Don’t Worry About These iXBRL instance Challenges, Outsource

A dependable and reputed iXBRL instance partner like DataTracks is all you need. DataTracks is a global leader in iXBRL conversion services and can prove to be the ideal iXBRL partner. Boasting an experience of 16+ years, DataTracks has successfully delivered over 1,95,000 compliance reports, which means their financial experts have witnessed and overcome every iXBRL challenge in the book.

Reach out to a DataTracks expert TODAY at @+27-10-446-9061 or drop an email at enquiry@datatracks.co.za and make your iXBRL instance filing hassle-free and efficient.