Introduction
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is the UK regulator for corporate governance and oversees audits, accounting, and actuary duties. The primary responsibility of FRC is to promote transparency and accountability in business and set standards for corporate stewardship.
To digitize corporate reporting, the FRC has developed taxonomies using a structured digital format known as XBRL. The FRC Board governs, strategizes, and approves all codes and standards issued by the FRC with guidance from the technical task force and Governance Committee. The Committee consists of advisors from FRC, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), Companies House, The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Charity Commission, and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
In October 2022, the FRC issued its 2023 Taxonomy Suite incorporating changes and updates to all its XBRL taxonomies. The new Taxonomy Suite includes new and improved tags and guidance for taxonomies such as the UK IFRS, FRS 101, FRS 102, UKSEF, Irish Extensions, and Charities. Additionally, taxonomy documentation, other supporting documents, key information sheets, and release notes have been included within the suite.
The draft version of the 2023 Taxonomy Suite was published in August 2022 that was open for public consultation. Although the public consultation is closed now, feedback can be addressed to the XBRL Taxonomies team through email ([email protected]) or via Yeti – the FRC’s comment tool.
Important updates to the FRC’s 2023 Taxonomy Suite
Improved Tags and Guidance
New or improved tags and guidance have been built for initial reporting, interim reporting, medium-sized companies, and filleted accounts to comply with the Companies House requirements.
Overhauling of IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts
The IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts was adopted by the UK Endorsement Board in May 2022 and will replace the IFRS 4 Insurance Contracts. In order to facilitate the mandatory requisites of full digital tagging of standards to HMRC, the FRC has been tasked with developing the content for the FRC’s XBRL taxonomies applicable for IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts implementation. The effective date of the new standard for insurance contracts is January 1, 2023. As issuers start to use this content, the feedback, if any, can be directed to FRC via Yeti or email.
Support for Alternative Performance Measures (APMs)
FRC has added support and included a new hypercube with new dimensions to report APMs. APMs are financial measures that demonstrate historical or future financial performance and position of an organization that is not defined in the applicable financial reporting framework.
Incorporation of Diversity and Inclusion
FCA’s Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) reporting proposals that were finalized in April 2022 have been included in the new taxonomy suite. New hypercubes for Gender/Sex and Ethnicity reporting have also been incorporated.
New feature for UKSEF
The 2023 version of UKSEF incorporates XBRL’s “multiple target document” feature. Entities will now be able to submit a single report to multiple regulators and meet the technical requirements of both ESEF and FRS 102/UK IFRS tagging. This feature has been adopted following feedback on the efficacy of UKSEF 2022. The UKSEF is an extension of ESEF taxonomy following the UK’s exit from Europe. The taxonomy enables entities to meet both FCA (ESEF) and Companies House (FRS 102/UK IFRS) filing requirements while adhering to the ESEF requirements as much as possible.
Updation of Deprecation Policy
The FRC has formalized a Deprecation Policy that entails steps taken for deprecating parts of the taxonomy suite or phasing out the old tags.
Who should use FRC’s 2023 Taxonomy Suite?
The 2023 Taxonomy suite presents the latest and updated versions of the FRC taxonomies and should be used to meet the full tagging requirements of HMRC reporting. The accounts must be tagged completely, barring consolidated UKSEF data where minimum tagging is permitted by regulations. Relevant issuers filing to HMRC and Companies House are expected to use the updated versions wherever applicable.
It is mandatory for large charities with income over GBP 6.5 Mn to use the Charity Accounts Taxonomy while filing with HMRC. Additionally, all charities preparing accounts in accordance with the Charities FRS 102 SORP can use the updated Charity Accounts Taxonomy.
All the amendments can be found in detail on the Taxonomies webpage of FRC. The new version including supporting documentation, key information, and release notes can be downloaded from Taxonomy Suite zip files – 2023 Downloads.