XBRL software FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Licensing the software

Can we set up our own XBRL tagging service?

• Yes, our software solution is designed with precisely this in mind.  Whether you are an organisation in practice or a service provider, this is the ideal solution for creating filing-ready XBRL or iXBRL instances direct from PDF, Word or Excel documents – other formats also handled

• You simply licence the product, and you get your own secure cloud-based software service for converting accounts to XBRL

Do you need local partners?

• Yes, we are looking for local organisations in each country with whom we can partner – typically firms of accountants or service providers
• If you are interested in providing your own conversion service to your local market, please contact us

You appear not to have integrated the exact taxonomy that I need?

The system is modular enabling us to plug in additional taxonomies as required, so if you have a specific taxonomy that needs to be integrated, please contact us.

Is it really as easing as plugging in a new taxonomy?

No, not quite.  We know from experience that each country has its own jurisdiction-specific requirements.

We therefore work with local partners to interpret these requirements and tune our software system to provide the specific features that are needed.

In most cases, as part of the configuration process, it is question of us switching on/off built-in functionality, and tuning the features needed for the specific taxonomy/jurisdiction.

Do you support non-English languages?

Yes, the software can utilize:

• Non-English language taxonomies
• And the user interface can also, if required, support non-English languages

Required skill levels

We are not experts in XBRL or iXBRL - will we be able to use the system?

You do not need to be experts in XBRL code, as the software handles the technical process of converting financial statements to iXBRL / XBRL output.  The more important aspect is expertise in accounts.  Also required is a good understanding of the relevant taxonomy, an understanding that one acquires from using the system.

Our comprehension of the actual XBRL taxonomies is limited?

If you have expertise in accounts for the relevant jurisdiction, subject to the amount of financial statements that you convert, familiarity with the taxonomy is relatively easily acquired (i.e. if one converts a sufficient number of accounts sets, one soon learns how the taxonomy is applied).

Types of accounts

Financial accounts each have their own peculiarities, does your system handle these?

The software does not work according to a fixed template, and as a result, its flexibility is enormous.  Any concepts supported within the designated taxonomy can be handled by our system.

What types of financial statement does your software handle?

• Company accounts to be filed with the tax authorities
• Returns and accounts for company registers
• Tax computations
• Financial analysis tables
• Generally any financial statement that requires conversion to XBRL

For more information see Who Should Use.

Are consolidated accounts prepared for a group companies supported?

Yes, where consolidated financial statements are prepared for an accounting period to represent the activity of a group of companies, these are supported by the software.

What about long period accounts and short period accounts?

Does the software handle these?  Yes, the period that a company prepares accounts for (period of account) can be of any length:

• Longer than 12 months – long period accounts
• Shorter than 12 months – short period accounts

Such period types are easily handled by our accounts conversion solution.

Productivity and unique technology

How does the software work?

With our pdf2xbrl solution, once the file is converted (which is fully automatic), an operator with knowledge of the taxonomy then uses the system to:

• Finish the converted financial statement
• Check that the finished file validates and is filing-ready for the customer

For further details see Conversion Workflow.

What is so special about your pdf2xbrl software?

For converting financial accounts to XBRL, it provides unparalleled productivity and a host of innovative features, but most importantly:

• Unique technology – the only software that converts accounts directly from PDF to XBRL – other formats also handled
• Intelligent extraction – content and structure recognized by the software without human intervention e.g. financial values, periods and units all recognized
• High-productivity solution – fully automatic conversion combined with our pdf2xbrl editing environment offers unparalleled levels of productivity
• Automated tagging – reduces the need for manual work with heuristic dictionary functionality matching accounting labels to taxonomy terms
• Feature-rich operator environment – intuitive pdf2xbrl user interface utilized by operators to edit and quality assure converted accounts, before validating and outputting finished iXBRL / XBRL

Brochure

pdf2xbrl conversion software – brochure including workflow diagram

What document types or file formats does the system convert?

Accounts formats converted to XBRL

File formats of financial accounts processed include:

• PDF to XBRL
• Excel to XBRL
• Word to XBRL
• HTML to XBRL
• Adobe InDesign to XBRL
• QuarkXPress to XBRL
• Other formats to XBRL – save as PDF (our system works on the basis of interpreting layout, so any layout orientated formats can be processed)

Accounts formats converted to iXBRL

File formats of financial accounts processed include:

• PDF to iXBRL
• Excel to iXBRL
• Word to iXBRL
• HTML to iXBRL
• Adobe InDesign to iXBRL
• QuarkXPress to iXBRL
• Other formats to iXBRL – save as PDF (our system works on the basis of interpreting layout, so any layout orientated formats can be processed)

What about documents with Microsoft Word and Excel embedded objects?

My Word file has embedded objects in it?

Are such Word files suitable for conversion to XBRL / iXBRL?  Yes our system can handle embedded objects within Word without problem.

My Excel file has embedded objects in it?

Are such Excel files suitable for conversion to XBRL / iXBRL?  Yes our system can handle embedded objects within Excel without problem.

Taxonomies

Taxonomies supported?

These include:

• IFRS
• EU adopted IFRS
• FRS 101
• FRS 102
• FRS 102 - Section 1A Small Entities
• FRS 105
• UK GAAP
• Irish GAAP
• Singapore ACRA
• Indian GAAP MCA
• Australian IFRS
• etc.  ....

Please enquire for taxonomies of other jurisdictions/languages not listed here.

The taxonomy that I need is not listed above?

If the taxonomy you require is not listed above, please contact us.  The software works on a modular basis, and using our taxonomy compiler, additional taxonomies can be incorporated into the system.

Using the software

How do I use the software?

• You have your own fully secure accounts conversion service which you utilize to convert financial statements to XBRL
• The software is cloud based, so you log in via the web in order to utilise it

How does the software work exactly?

See Productivity and Unique Technology.

I am not sure whether your system is the right solution for us?

• Please feel free to contact us to regarding your requirement
• We will happily give a full demonstration of the system

Outputs

Can the software output both iXBRL and XBRL?

Yes both output formats are fully supported.

Deliverables – What do the outputs consist of?

The deliverables that you would normally output and deliver to the customer are:

• Financial accounts processed by the system – output is returned as valid iXBRL or XBRL files – one file for each set of accounts/entity (in the case of iXBRL the output can be visualised in a browser)
• Tagging Report – an easy-to-read Tagging Report supplied in PDF format is a recommended additional output for customers
• Other reports from the system can be output as required

XBRL Tagging Reports

 Easy-to-read Tagging Reports in PDF format detail the XBRL tags applied to the converted accounts:

•  Enabling both the operator of the software and the owner of the accounts to review tagging decisions made and provides an easy-to-read written record
• The Tagging Report is a reference document, and is not normally required by the regulatory authority (e.g. HMRC in the UK or by the Revenue in Ireland)

Scanned PDFs / image PDFs

Can the system handle scanned or image PDFs?

Yes, included within the system is a workflow to automatically convert scanned PDFs to an OCR ready for conversion to XBRL.

What are scanned or image PDFs?

See our section on Types of PDFs: native versus scanned PDFs.

Support

It sounds all a bit to easy, what happens when one faces issues?

Yes, of course operators of the system will from time to time face issues, this is fully expected.  For this reason free support is included with the pdf2xbrl system:

What does the support include?

pdf2xbrl support includes:

• Technical based issues
• Specific accounts-related questions
• Taxonomy updates
• New software maintenance releases