Volume 4, Issue 6


17th July, 2012


Business Alert
XBRL Timelines

Reporting in XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) became applicable to certain categories of Indian companies for financial year 2010-11. India continues to extend the scope of XBRL for regulatory filings and in this alert we share some recent developments.

XBRL Mandate for FY 2011-12

Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has, vide circular no. 16/2012 dated 6th July 2012 prescribed the class of companies required to submit their financial statements in XBRL in respect of the financial year starting on or after 1st April 2011. As per Circular, the following types of companies will get covered:-

  1. all companies listed with any Stock Exchange(s) in India and their Indian subsidiaries; or
  2. all companies having paid up capital of Rupees fifty million and above; or
  3. all companies having turnover of Rupees one billion and above; or
  4. all companies who were required to file their financial statements for FY 2010-11, using XBRL mode.

Banking companies, Insurance Companies, Power Sector & Non-banking Financial Companies are presently excluded from this filing.

The deadline for submission of financial statements in XBRL mode for FY 2011-12, without payment of additional fees has been fixed as 15th November 2012 or within 30 days of AGM, whichever is later.

New draft Taxonomy

For financial year 2011-12, Schedule VI of the Companies Act, 1956 prescribing the format of presentation and classification of various line items of financial statements was revamped. This resulted in changed format of financials and consequently requiring change in Taxonomy. This draft taxonomy which is significantly different from the previous year is placed on the MCA website for public comments.  

The new draft Taxonomy incorporates the following architectural changes:-

  • Based on IFRS Taxonomy 2011
  • Use of Dimensions
  • Use of Reference Linkbase

The taxonomy is a “closed taxonomy” which means taxonomy extensions are not allowed. MCA may introduce “Formula Linkbase” in the taxonomy for validation of business rules.

XBRL Coverage and experience:

This year, approximately 29,000 companies are covered under XBRL based filing.

During the meeting held with software vendors and consultants organised by MCA on 6th July 2012, it was specifically pointed out that the quality of XBRL filing last year was not upto the mark. It was also mentioned that this year their focus will be more on quality of XBRL data. Therefore, it appears that last year, several filers uploaded data that was qualitatively inferior and not strictly in accordance with statutory requirements.

How SKP can help

XBRL conversion requires a good quality software tool, knowledge and experience of tagging and complete familiarity with financial statements as well as expertise in accounting and reporting. With access to good tools and with our own team of experienced professionals, SKP can assist clients with the XBRL conversion process. For further information on how we can help, please contact saumil.shah@skpgroup.com