Primary Financial Statements (PFS), Financial Reporting for Commercial and Industrial Entities, International Accounting Standards (IAS), 2002-11-15, Explanatory Notes

 

Summary Taxonomy Information:

Status:

Recommendation, issued in accordance with XBRL International Processes REC 2002-04-20.

Issued:

2002-11-15 (15 November 2002)

Issued by:

International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation, XBRL International

Name:

Primary Financial Statements (PFS), Financial Reporting for Commercial and Industrial Entities, International Accounting Standards (IAS)

Description:

This taxonomy is intended to allow traded entities to prepare XBRL-based interim and annual financial statements according to IAS. This includes consolidated publicly listed entities, parent entity financial statements, and nonconsolidated entities.

Namespace identifiers:

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/

and

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/LINKED

Recommended namespace prefix:

iascf-pfs

Version of XBRL Specification Used:

XBRL Specification 2.0 dated 2001-12-14

Relation to Other XBRL Taxonomies:

This taxonomy does not reference any other XBRL taxonomies. This taxonomy is intended to be referenced by the Explanatory Disclosures and Accounting Policies (EDAP) Taxonomy, which has additional financial reporting concepts commonly found in notes to the financial statements, management commentary, and accounting policies.

Physical Location of Taxonomy Package:

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15.xsd (Schema linked only to references linkbase)

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15-LINKED.xsd (Schema linked only to all linkbases)

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15-references.xml (References linkbase)

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15-labels.xml (Labels linkbase)

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15-presentation.xml (Presentation linkbase)

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15-calculation.xml (Calculation linkbase)

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15-definition.xml (Definition linkbase)


Editors of this Document and Taxonomy:

Roger Debreceny FCPA, CMA, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Thomas Egan CPA, Deloitte and Touche, Singapore.

Charles Hoffman CPA, Universal Business Matrix, United States.

Josef Macdonald, CA, Ernst and Young, New Zealand.

David Prather, IASC Foundation, UK.

Alan Teixeira, PhD, CA, The University of Auckland, New Zealand

Other contributors to the Taxonomy:

Dave Garbutt CA, FRS, South Africa.

David Hardidge, Ernst and Young, Australia.

David Huxtable CPA, KPMG, Australia.

Julie Santoro CA, KPMG, UK.

Geoff Shuetrim, KPMG, Australia.

Bruno Tesniere, CPA, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Belgium.

IAS XBRL Steering Committee Co-chairs:

Paul Phenix, Australian Stock Exchange, Australia.

David Prather, IASC Foundation, UK.

IAS Taxonomy Working Group Co-chairs:

Josef Macdonald CA, Ernst & Young, New Zealand.

Kok-Kwai Tang CPA, Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore, Singapore.

Explanatory Notes (this document):

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15.htm  (HTML Format)

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15.pdf  (PDF Format)

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15.doc  (Word Format)

Taxonomy Elements:

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15-elements.pdf (PDF Format)

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15-elements.xls (Excel Format)

“Sample Company” Instance Document:

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/SampleCompany-2002-11-15.xml (XBRL/XML Format)

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/SampleCompany-2002-11-15.pdf (PDF Format)


Abstract

These Explanatory Notes describe the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) Taxonomy: Primary Financial Statements (PFS), Financial Reporting for Commercial and Industrial Entities, International Accounting Standards (IAS) (“the PFS Taxonomy”).

The PFS Taxonomy has been prepared by the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation (IASC Foundation, http://www.iascf.com) and the IAS Working Group of XBRL International (http://www.xbrl.org).

This PFS Taxonomy is compliant with XBRL Specification Version 2.0, dated 2001-12-14 (http://www.xbrl.org/tr/2001/). It is for the creation of XML-based instance documents that generate business and financial reporting for commercial and industrial entities according to the International Accounting Standards Boards’ International Accounting Standards (http://www.iasb.org.uk).

This document assumes a general understanding of accounting and XBRL. If the reader desires additional information relating to XBRL, the XBRL International web site (http://www.xbrl.org) is recommended. In particular a reading of the XBRL Specification Version 2.0 is highly recommended (http://www.xbrl.org/tr/2001/).

Terminology

The terminology used in this document frequently overlaps with terminology from other disciplines. The following definitions are provided to explain the use of terms within the XBRL knowledge domain.

Taxonomy

An XBRL Taxonomy is an XML Schema-compliant .xsd file that contains XBRL elements, which are XML elements that are defined by XBRL-specific attributes. An XBRL Taxonomy may also contain references to XLink linkbases.

Instance document

An XML document that includes one or more XBRL elements and optional references to zero or more XLink linkbases.

Element

An XBRL element is a “fact” or piece of information described by an XBRL taxonomy. For example, an element with the name “iascf-pfs:CurrentAssets” is the taxonomy’s XBRL element name for the financial statement disclosure fact “Current Assets.”

Linkbase

Linkbases provide additional information about XBRL elements, in particular, relationships between them such as the relationship that “Property, Plant and Equipment” is defined as an “Asset.” Linkbases used by XBRL are compliant with the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) XML Linking Language (XLink) Recommendation 1.0, 27 June 2001.


Table of Contents

Abstract

Terminology

1.       Overview

1.1.     Purpose

1.2.     Authority

1.3.     Taxonomy Status

1.4.     Scope of Taxonomy

GCD – Global Common Document Taxonomy

AR – Accountants Report Taxonomy

PFS – Primary Financial Statements Taxonomy

EDAP – Explanatory Disclosures and Accounting Policies Taxonomy

IAS Framework

1.5.     Relationship to Other Work

2.       Overview of Taxonomy

2.1.     Contents of the Taxonomy

2.2.     Taxonomy Structure

2.3.     Element Naming Convention

2.4.     Label Languages

2.5.     References

2.6.     Further Documentation Available

3.       Items to Note in Using the Taxonomy

3.1.     Introduction

3.2.     How to Interpret the Taxonomy Structure

3.3.     Balance Sheet Structure

3.4.     Income Statement Structure

3.5.     Statement of Cash Flows Structure

3.6.     Statement of Changes in Equity Structure

3.7.     Alternative Balance Sheet Elements

3.8.     Equivalent facts (Same-as Dimensions)

3.9.     Calculation and Definition Links

3.10.      Namespaces

3.11.      Entering Numeric Values into Instance Documents

3.12.      Segmentation

4.       Sample Company Sample Instance Document

4.1.     Introduction

4.2.     Balance Sheet Example

5.       Review and Testing, Updates and Changes

5.1.     Change Log

5.2.     Updates to this Taxonomy

5.3.     Errors and Clarifications

5.4.     Comments and Feedback

6.       Acknowledgements

7.       XBRL International Members


 

1.   Overview

1.1.                    Purpose

The International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation (IASC Foundation, http://www.iascf.com) and XBRL International (http://www.xbrl.org) have developed a comprehensive eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) taxonomy that models the primary financial statements that a commercial and industrial entities are required to report under International Accounting Standards (IAS) (http://www.iasb.org.uk). The Primary Financial Statements (PFS), Financial Reporting for Commercial and Industrial Entities, International Accounting Standards (IAS) (the PFS Taxonomy) includes XBRL representations of a classified balance sheet, an income statement, a statement of changes in equity and a cash flow statement. Significant accounting policies and other explanatory notes are modelled in a separate XBRL taxonomy, the Explanatory Disclosures and Accounting Policies (EDAP) taxonomy.

The PFS Taxonomy design will facilitate the creation of XBRL instance documents that that capture business and financial reporting information for commercial and industrial entities according to the International Accounting Standards Board’s (http://www.iasb.org.uk) International Accounting Standards. The PFS Taxonomy provides a framework for consistent financial reporting when entities create XBRL documents under that taxonomy.

The purpose of this and other taxonomies produced using XBRL is to facilitate data exchange among applications used by companies and individuals as well as other financial information stakeholders, such as lenders, investors, auditors, attorneys, and regulators.

1.2.                    Authority

The authority for this PFS Taxonomy is based upon the International Accounting Standards Board’s (http://www.iasb.org.uk) International Accounting Standards (“IAS”) and Statements of Interpretation (“SIC”) effective 01 January 2002 (http://www.iasplus.com/standard/standard.htm). The PFS Taxonomy also includes non-authoritative “best practices,” where the Standards and SICs are silent on common patterns of financial reporting. As this Taxonomy primarily addresses the reporting considerations of commercial and industrial entities, IAS 26 and IAS 30 disclosure requirements are not represented in the PFS Taxonomy’s content.

The particular disclosures in this PFS Taxonomy models are:

1.      Required by particular IASs

2.      Typically represented in IAS model financial statements, checklists and guidance materials as provided from each of the major international accounting firms.

3.      Found in common reporting practice, or

4.      Flow logically from items 1-3, for example, sub-totals and totals.

This PFS Taxonomy is in compliance with XBRL Specification Version 2.0, dated 2001-12-14 (http://www.xbrl.org/tr/2001/).

1.3.                    Taxonomy Status

The PFS Taxonomy is a Recommendation. Its content and structure have been reviewed by both accounting and technical teams of the IASC Foundation (http://www.iascf.com) and the IAS Taxonomy and XBRL Specification Working Groups of XBRL International.

The following is a summary of meanings of the status of taxonomies:

1.4.                    Scope of Taxonomy

This taxonomy is the Primary Financial Statements (PFS) Taxonomy. The PFS taxonomy will commonly be used with the XBRL Global Common Document (GCD) Taxonomy, the Accountants Report (AR) taxonomy, and the Explanatory Disclosures and Accounting Policies (EDAP) Taxonomy. In addition, other national jurisdictions and industries may leverage the PFS, GCD, AR, and EDAP taxonomies.  This section describes the relationship between these taxonomies.

GCD – Global Common Document Taxonomy

The GCD Taxonomy incorporates elements that are common to the vast majority of XBRL instance documents, regardless of their type. The GCD Taxonomy has elements that describe the XBRL instance document itself and the entity to which the instance document relates. The taxonomy was co-developed by the IAS Taxonomy Development and XBRL US Domain Working Groups. See http://www.xbrl.org for the latest version of the GCD Taxonomy.

AR – Accountants Report Taxonomy

The AR Taxonomy is intended to provide information related to the auditor’s/independent Accountants Report that typically accompanies external financial reports of public companies. The taxonomy was co-developed by the IAS Taxonomy Development and XBRL US Domain Working Groups. See http://www.xbrl.org for the latest version of the AR Taxonomy.

PFS – Primary Financial Statements Taxonomy

The PFS Taxonomy encompasses the core financial statements that private sector and certain public sector entities typically report in annual, semi-annual or quarterly financial disclosures as required by IAS 1, paragraph 7 (revised 1993) and IAS 34, paragraph 8 (revised 1998).

Those financial statements are the

  1. Balance Sheet,
  2. Income statement,
  3. Statement of Cash Flows
  4. Statement of Changes in Equity,

and their condensed equivalents.

Reporting elements from those financial statements may be incorporated into a wide variety of other disclosures from press releases to multi-period summaries.

EDAP – Explanatory Disclosures and Accounting Policies Taxonomy

The EDAP Taxonomy has elements that provide additional or enhanced disclosure over and above the disclosures made in the primary financial statements. These disclosures are, in the context of annual financial statements, typically made in the notes to the financial statements or management commentary. The EDAP taxonomy also provides elements to identify the accounting policies adopted by the reporting entity. Elements in the EDAP taxonomy include:

  1. Accounting Policies
  2. Explanatory Disclosures
  3. Management Commentary

IAS Framework

Used together, these taxonomies will meet the reporting needs of entities that meet three criteria, viz (i) report under International Accounting Standards (IAS), (ii) are in the broad category of “commercial and industrial” industries and (iii) have relatively common reporting elements in their financial statements. Whilst many reporting entities meet these three criteria, there are many entities that do not. Additional taxonomies that represent extensions to IAS are likely to be required. These taxonomies are likely to identify the particular needs of:

These extension taxonomies will either extend the GCD, AR, PFS and EDAP taxonomies to meet the particular reporting requirements of that industry, country or entity and/or restrict the use of particular by limiting the use of particular PFS or EDAP taxonomy elements.

The inter-relationships of the various taxonomies are show in Figure 1:

Figure 1: Interrelationship of Taxonomies and Instance Document

At the date of release of this document some of these taxonomies have been created and released and others have not been created or have not been released. However, extension taxonomies are under development for the some national jurisdictions and within certain industries.

1.5.                    Relationship to Other Work

XBRL utilizes the World Wide Web consortium (W3C www.w3.org ) recommendations, specifically:

2.   Overview of the PFS Taxonomy

The following is an overview of the taxonomy. It is assumed that the reader is familiar with financial and business reporting and has a basic understanding of XBRL.

2.1.                    Contents of the Taxonomy

This PFS Taxonomy makes available to users the most commonly disclosed financial information under International Accounting Standards. This taxonomy is an expression of financial information in terms that are understandable to humans, but equally as important understandable by a computer applications.

The PFS Taxonomy is made up of a “package” of interrelated XML files:

The package is represented visually, with an example based on Balance Sheet reporting of Non Current Investment Property is shown in Figure 2:

Figure 2: PFS Taxonomy Package and With Descriptions and Examples

The diagram above shows that a taxonomy is a collection of one or more XML Schema files. The XML Schema is further described by a number of linkbases.

2.2.                    Taxonomy Structure

The PFS Taxonomy contains nearly eight hundred XBRL elements, which are unique, individually identified pieces of information. The XML schema file is the foundation of the taxonomy package and provides a straightforward listing of the elements in the taxonomy. The associated linkbases provide the information that is necessary to interpret (e.g. Label and Definition linkbases) taxonomy elements or place a given taxonomy element in context of other taxonomy elements (e.g. Calculation and Presentation linkbases).

Given that information on the Taxonomy is included in XML schema and linkbase files, it is best rendered for human interpretation in a “paper” paradigm. Users are encouraged to review versions of the taxonomy elements in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) or Excel formats. However, the actual taxonomy is comprised of the XSD file and the five linkbases that express taxonomy element relationships.

However, in a paper-based format, many of the characteristics of taxonomy are not obvious. The paper paradigm is two dimensional, whereas the information in the taxonomy is multidimensional. The application of a metaphor assists in understanding taxonomies. The PFS Taxonomy is organized using a “Balance Sheet” metaphor. This type of organization was chosen among others because it is understood by the accountants who use this metaphor to: Organize their audit working papers; organise notes to the financial statements and perform a variety of other functions. This metaphor is also familiar to the consumers of financial statements.

However, this metaphor and organization may limit the understanding of the power behind an XBRL taxonomy. A taxonomy has multiple “dimensions”. Relationships can be expressed in terms of definitions, calculations, links to labels in one or more languages, links to one or more references, etc. The metaphor used expresses only one such relationship, which presentation-based.

The PFS Taxonomy is divided logically into sections that correspond to typical financial statement components. While there is no true concept of “sections” in the Taxonomy, their purpose is to group similar concepts together and facilitate navigation within the Taxonomy. Abstract XML elements, for example “Balance Sheet” (ID 2) and “Income Statement” (ID 157) provide the ability to express “sections” within an XBRL taxonomy. The following is a listing of “sections” and a brief explanation (where necessary) of those sections:

The higher-level sections of the Taxonomy are shown in Figure 3:

Figure 3: High Level Sections of PFS Taxonomy

Section or Abstract Element

Explanatory Guidance

 Balance Sheet

 See Section 3.3 for additional details

 Income Statement

 See Section 0 for additional details

 Statement of Cash Flows

 See Section 3.5 for additional details

 Statement of Changes in Equity

 See Section 0 for additional details

2.3.                    Element Naming Convention

The convention for naming XBRL elements within a taxonomy follows that of XML Schema. Each name within a taxonomy must be unique and must start with an alpha character or the underscore character. Element names are case-sensitive. The PFS Taxonomy naming convention follows these rules; see the XML Specification for more information.

In addition to following XML Schema naming requirements, the PFS Taxonomy places additional constrains on element naming based on a “best practice” element naming convention document which is being submitted to XBRL International on behalf of the IAS working group and other XBRL jurisdictions. Companies creating extension taxonomies are encouraged to follow the XBRL best practices naming convention, but are not required to do so.

The naming convention used encourages camel case names (e.g. the term “Balance Sheet” becomes BalanceSheet) which use descriptive names for readability and are common in other XML languages. See the best practices naming convention document available through XBRL International. This document is not available as of the release date of this document.

Per the naming convention best practices, certain short connector words were dropped when labels were converted to element names. The following is a list of words that were dropped from the element names: an, and, any, are, as, at, be, but, by, can, could, does, for, from, has, have, if, in, is, its, made, may, of, on, or, such, than, that, the, this, to, when, where, which, with, would.

2.4.                    Label Languages

In this release, labels for taxonomy elements are provided in English. Additional linkbases will be subsequently developed express taxonomy labels in additional languages, for example in French or Japanese. These labels will be represented in separate label linkbases.

2.5.                    References

This Taxonomy provides references to IAS standards and other authoritative sources. Reference information is captured in the taxonomy reference linkbase using the following element names: Name, Number, Paragraph, Subparagraph, and Clause.

Sources for these references include:

2.6.                    Further Documentation Available

The intent of this document is to explain the PFS Taxonomy. This document assumes a general understanding of accounting and XBRL. If the reader desires additional information relating to XBRL, the XBRL International web site (http://www.xbrl.org) is recommended. Specifically, a reading of the XBRL Specification Version 2.0 is highly recommended (http://www.xbrl.org/tr/2001/). The purpose of this document is to explain how XBRL is being applied in this specific case, for this taxonomy.

The following documentation is available to assist those wishing to understand and use this taxonomy. This documentation is available on the XBRL International web site (http://www.xbrl.org):

Explanatory Notes (this document):

This overview document describing objectives of the IASC Foundation, XBRL International IAS Working Group and the PFS Taxonomy:

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15.htm (HTML Format)

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15.pdf  (PDF Format)

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15.doc  (Word Format)

Taxonomy Elements:

This is a summary listing of taxonomy elements in a human readable format for the purpose of obtaining an overview of this taxonomy.

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15-elements.pdf (PDF Format)

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15-elements2.pdf (PDF Format, element labels and element names)

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15-elements.xls (Excel Format)

Taxonomy Package

These documents correspond to a set of interrelated files comprising an XBRL taxonomy package:

The following ZIP file contains the taxonomy package, taxonomy documentation, and sample instance documents: http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15.zip  

These files are located as follows:

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15.xsd  (Schema)

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15-references.xml (References linkbase)

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15-labels.xml (Labels linkbase)

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15-presentation.xml (Presentation linkbase)

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15-calculation.xml (Calculation linkbase)

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15-definition.xml (Definition linkbase)

“Sample Company” Instance Documents (Non Normative)

The “Sample Company” instance documents are provided as a practical example of the application of the taxonomy. The instance document is provided in unstyled XML; and in Adobe Acrobat:

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/SampleCompany-2002-11-15.xml (XBRL/XML Format)

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/SampleCompany-2002-11-15.pdf (PDF Format)

“Novartis” Instance Documents and Extension Taxonomy (Non Normative)

The “Novartis” instance documents are provided as a practical example of the application of the taxonomy. These documents are provided as working XBRL examples only and are neither endorsed nor audited by either Novartis or its auditors. This document is provided in unstyled XML; and in Adobe Acrobat:

http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/Novartis-2002-11-15.xml  (XBRL/XML Format)

3.   Items to Note in Using the Taxonomy

3.1.                    Introduction

The following explanation of the taxonomy, the taxonomies with which this PFS Taxonomy is designed to interoperate, and examples of how to interpret the PFS Taxonomy are provided to make the PFS Taxonomy easier to use. Please refer to the detailed printout of the PFS Taxonomy for ID numbers as you go through this explanation (http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15-elements.pdf).

An alternative printout which contains labels and element names is available at (http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15-elements2.pdf).

This explanatory document is designed to provide an overview of the PFS Taxonomy to be a brief and concise overview. It is anticipated that the XBRL community will create courses, books and other materials to provide a through explanation of every aspect of using the PFS Taxonomy and other cognate taxonomies.

Please note that element names are provided ONLY in the first figure (Figure 4: Sample Elements) in order to show the difference between element names and element labels. Element names are not shown is other figures.

3.2.                    How to Interpret the Taxonomy Structure

Fundamentally, the PFS taxonomy does not present anything new to accountants or analysts who understand financial information. However, the way the information is structured is very new to participants in the financial reporting supply chain. This section of the PFS taxonomy documentation provides a basic explanation of the PFS taxonomy in both narrative and graphical forms. This explanation is non-normative and the XSD file and linkbases that explain the taxonomy in terms a computer can interpret takes precedence over this explanation.

The element fragment shown in Figure 4 exists within the “Non Current Assets” section or the “Assets” section of the “Balance Sheet” section of the PFS Taxonomy:

Figure 4: Sample Elements

Element Name

Element Label

ID

Page

NonCurrentAssets

Non Current Assets

4

1

PropertyPlantEquipment

Property, Plant and Equipment

5

1

InvestmentProperty

Investment Property

14

1

IntangibleAssets

Intangible Assets

15

1

 

This means that for a commercial and industrial entity, there is a type of non-current asset called “Property Plant and Equipment”. This concept is represented by an element with the name “PropertyPlantEquipment” and the English label “Property, Plant and Equipment”.

When an entity reports their financial results in an XBRL instance document, because “Property Plant and Equipment” is an element in the PFS Taxonomy, and because this element has children that roll up to it, then one of the following will be true:

·         All of the “Property Plant and Equipment” of the entity must be recorded within one of those child elements, OR

·         The instance document will include an extension to the taxonomy that consists of a new element or elements and an linkbase entries that describe how the new element(s) relate to “Property Plant and Equipment”.

All of the elements in the fragment shown are of the XBRL data type “monetary” and have a weight equal to “1”. Having a weight equal to “1” indicates that in an instance document, the value of all children of an element, when multiplied by the assigned weight, adds (or “rolls”) up to the value of the parent element. For example, “Property Plant and Equipment,” “Investment Property” and “Intangible Assets” are components of the total value of “Non Current Assets,” as are other assets such as “Biological Assets” (BiologicalAssets, ID 23) and “Investments in Subsidiaries (InvestmentsSubsidiaries, ID 24). The mathematical relationship between these elements is represented in the Calculation linkbase. In this linkbase, “Assets” has a value equal to the value of its two children “Current Assets” (CurrentAssets, ID 42, Page 2) and “Non Current Assets”. These numeric relationships are prevalent throughout the taxonomy and are represented using the calculation linkbase.

The taxonomy is structure so that parent elements precede their child elements. For example, a child of the Income Statement element, “Net Profit (Loss) for Period After Tax and Net of Minority Interests Transferred to Equity” (NetProfitLossPeriodAfterTaxNetMinorityInterestsTransferredEquity, ID 158) precedes the other elements in the Income Statement such as Minority Interests Included in Group Profit (Loss), (MinorityInterestsIncludedGroupProfitLoss, ID 159) or “Profit (Loss) After Tax and Before Minority Interests” (ProfitLossAfterTaxBeforeMinorityInterests, ID 160). This pattern is followed throughout the taxonomy.

3.3.                    Balance Sheet Structure

The major sections of the Balance Sheet structure are shown in Figure 5:

Figure 5: Balance Sheet Major Structures

Element Labels

ID

Balance Sheet

2

 Assets

3

 Non Current Assets

4

 Current Assets

42

 Liabilities and Equity

72

 Equity

73

 Liabilities

97

  Non Current Liabilities

98

  Current Liabilities

127

 

The balance sheet structure is fairly intuitive. The balance sheets has assets, liabilities, and equity sections. Both assets and liabilities have non current and current sections, corresponding to a common classified balance sheet.

Figure 6: Balance Sheet Fragment

Figure 6 shows a fragment of the balance sheet, Non Current Assets. The elements “Property, Plant and Equipment”, “Investment Property”, and “Intangible Assets” are non current assets. “Property, Plant and Equipment” also has children including “Construction in Progress”, etc.

3.4.                    Income Statement Structure

The structure of the Income Statement and Cash Flows statement (see Section 3.5), and other structures, may appear counter-intuitive initially. The major sections of the Income Statement are shown in Figure 7:

Figure 7: Income Statement Major Structures

Element Labels

ID

Income Statement

157

Net Profit (Loss) for Period After Tax and Net of Minority Interests Transferred to Equity

158

Breakdown of Ordinary and Extraordinary Net Profit

242

Earnings Per Share

249

 

The Income Statement has three major sections. “Net Profit (Loss) for Period After Tax and Net of Minority Interests Transferred to Equity”, a “Breakdown of Ordinary and Extraordinary Net Profit” between its ordinary, extraordinary, and tax related components, and “Earnings Per Share” information.

The structure of one “tree” section of the income statement, which will help explain the structure of the Income Statement is shown in Figure 8:

Figure 8: Income Statement Fragment

An income statement's fundamental purpose is to show net income for an entity, and the items which comprise that net income. The final result is “Net Profit (Loss) for Period After Tax and Net of Minority Interests Transferred to Equity” - commonly referred to as “Net Income”.

One section of the structure from Figure 8, “Profit (Loss) After Tax and Before Minority Interests” is explained as follows. This element is comprised of other elements:

The element “Profit (Loss) Before Tax” has more detailed children: “Gains (Loss) on Disposal of Discontinuing Operations”, “Gains (Loss) on Remeasurement of Available for Sale Financial Assets”, “Gain (Loss) on Financial Instruments Designated as Cash Flow Hedges”, etc. The last of these items, “Profit (Loss) from Operations” further breaks down into “Profit (Loss) from Operations [by function]” and “Profit (Loss) from Operations [by nature]”.

Important note: Generally entities break down “Profit (Loss) from Operations” by nature, or by function, not both. Both options for breaking down “Profit (Loss) from Operations” are provided, however, only one should be used.

Important note: There is a “same-as” relationship between both “Profit (Loss) from Operations [by function]” and “Profit (Loss) from Operations [by nature]” and “Profit (Loss) from Operations”. See section 3.7 relating to “Equivalent Facts” for further discussion.

3.5.                    Statement of Cash Flows Structure

The major sections of the Income Statement are shown in Figure 9:

Figure 9: Statement of Cash Flows Major Structures

Element Labels

ID

Statement of Cash Flows

256

Cash and Cash Equivalents, Ending Balance

225

Net Increase (Decrease) in Cash and Cash Equivalents

258

 Net Cash Flows from (Used in) Operating Activities

259

 Net Cash Flows from (Used in) Investing Activities

340

 Net Cash Flows from (Used in) Financing Activities

381

Effect of Exchange Rate Changes on Cash and Cash Equivalents

403

Cash and Cash Equivalents, Beginning Balance

404

 

The structure of the Cash Flow disclosures is shown in Figure 10:

Figure 10: Statement of Cash Flows Fragment

Fundamentally, the cash flows statement provides a reconciliation between beginning and ending cash and breaks the net change into cash flows provided by operating activities, investing activities, and financing activities. Each of these major sections is further broken out into more detailed sections.

Important Note: The structure of the Cash Flow disclosures is closely modelled on the disclosures required in IAS 7. Support is provided for both the direct and indirect methods. However, only one of these methods is used in a cash flows statement. See section 3.7 relating to “Equivalent Facts” for further discussion.

Important Note: It would be very rare for the creator of an XBRL instance document to use the beginning balance element “Cash and Cash Equivalents, Beginning Balance.”

3.6.                    Statement of Changes in Equity Structure

The Statement of Changes in Equity models the disclosures required in IAS 1. The structure of the disclosures is shown in Figure 11:

Figure 11: Statement of Changes in Equity Major Structures

Element Labels

ID

Statement of Changes in Equity

405

Issued Capital Movements

406

Share Capital, Ordinary Shares, Ending Balance

407

Share Premium, Ordinary Shares, Ending Balance

428

Share Capital, Preference Shares, Ending Balance

447

Share Premium, Preference Shares, Ending Balance

463

Subscribed Capital Movements

480

Reserves Movements

491

Treasury Shares Movements

641

Retained Profits (Accumulated Losses) Movements

655

Equity, Total, Ending Balance

679

 

For each of the sections of the statement of equity, there are detail sections that contain the details of that section. For example, the details of “Issued Capital Movements” include: “Share Capital, Ordinary Shares”, “Share Premium, Ordinary Shares”, “Share Capital, Preference Shares”, and “Share Premium, Preference Shares”. Each of these sections has a reconciliation between the beginning balance and ending balance of that equity account, and shows the changes in that equity account. In addition, adjustments to the beginning balance of equity are provided.

The structure of one of these detail sections is illustrated by the elements for disclosures in changes in Share Capital, Ordinary Shares, as shown in Figure 12:

Figure 12: Statement of Changes in Equity Fragment

 

Important Note: The section “Equity, Total, Ending Balance” is equivalent to the totals column of a statement of changes in equity. This section ties to the “Equity” element of the balance sheet.

Important Note: It would be very rare for a creator of an XBRL instance document to use the beginning balance elements, for example “Share Capital, Ordinary Shares, Beginning Balance”.

3.7.                    Alternative Balance Sheet Elements

Not every industry uses a classified balance sheet when preparing their balance sheet. In order to maintain comparability, alternative balance sheet elements are provided to allow a summation of the current and non current portions of assets and liabilities.

3.8.                    Equivalent facts (Same-as Dimensions)

Although a taxonomy is conventionally displayed as a single tree, it is important to understand that an element may have children that are defined in terms of definition links while other children of the same element that are defined in terms of calculation links. The illusion that a taxonomy consists of a single tree – an illusion reinforced by the convention of using a “balance sheet metaphor” in the PFS taxonomy – breaks down in an important practical sense. Some “total” amounts have several children, each of which essentially represents a different way to calculate a total. In this case the calculation link between the child and the parent has a weight of 1, even though this representation would lead to double counting (XBRL summation).

These exceptions require the use of “same-as” links. The “same as” concept is part of XBRL Specification Version 2.0, and its interpretation is as follows: there will be an error if an instance document having two elements linked by a “same as” definition relationship and which have the same numeric context have different content values.

Concept equivalency is discussed in section 5.3.5.7 of the XBRL Specification.

In the PFS taxonomy, the following concept equivalencies exist:

Concept Equivalencies

 

·       Net Profit (Loss) for Period After Tax and Net of Minority Interests Transferred to Equity is equivalent to the element by the same label within “Breakdown of Ordinary and Extraordinary Net Profit”

·       Both “Profit (Loss) from Operations [by function]” and “Profit (Loss) from Operations [by nature]” are equivalent to “Profit (Loss) from Operations”

·       Both “Cash Flows from (Used in) Operations [Direct Method]” and “Cash Flows from (Used in) Operations [Indirect Method]” are equivalent to “Net Cash Flows from (Used in) Operating Activities”

·       “Equity, Total, Ending Balance” in the Statement of Changes in Equity is equivalent to “Equity” in the Balance Sheet.

 

Important Note: Concept equivalency is different than having multiple links to or from a single element.

3.9.                    Calculation and Definition Links

Financial statements are rich with relationships between the components of the financial statements. These relationships are expressed in XBRL using calculation links and definition links. Currently, the PFS taxonomy expresses the a minimum amount of such relationships.

For example, by examining the statement of equity, one finds that calculation links are provided for the changes in each equity components. However, calculation links are not provided to express for example, that “Other Movements in Equity” (IDs 424, 443, 459, etc.) for the change in each component of equity adds up to the element “Other Movements in Equity” (ID 717) for “Equity, Total”.

As resources to develop the taxonomy further are made available and as tools are released to test these links, additional calculation links may be added to the PFS taxonomy.

3.10.               Namespaces

Namespaces are an important XML concept. XBRL, using XML Schema 1.0, uses XML namespaces extensively in its schemas and instance documents. The purpose of a namespace, in the context of XBRL, is to identify the taxonomy to which any particular XML element belongs. Namespaces allow software to resolve any ambiguity that may arise as a result of elements from different taxonomies sharing the same element name.

For example, the PFS Taxonomy uses the element name “CashCashEquivalents” to represent “Cash and Cash Equivalents”. If a different XBRL taxonomy from the United Kingdom also uses “CashCashEquivalents”, there must be a “differentiation” mechanism. This is accomplished by giving each taxonomy a unique namespace. A namespace is a URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) such as http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15 (which is the namespace of this release of the PFS taxonomy). A namespace is not a URL. It is a globally unique identifier. Within any XML document, it is not necessary to repeat lengthy identifiers with every taxonomy element. Instead, XML allows one to define an abbreviation for each namespace used. Using “qualified” namespaces in this way, instance documents and taxonomies can define an alias such as iascf-pfs for the IAS taxonomy, and uk for the UK taxonomy. Thus the IAS element would be referred to as iascf-pfs:CashCashEquivalents and the UK element as uk:CashCashEquivalents – the namespace alias adds a context-establishing prefix to every XML element.

Note that these particular aliases reflect a usage convention only within the IAS taxonomies themselves as an aid to communication between humans. Software applications must not depend on these particular prefixes being used; they should process namespace identifiers and aliases as specified by the XML specifications.

Important Note: XBRL instance document element names for financial concepts must be qualified names containing a namespace prefix and an element name, for example: iascf-pfs:CashCashEquivalents.

3.11.               Entering Numeric Values into Instance Documents

Figure 13 describes how weights have been incorporated into the PFS Taxonomy and how corresponding values will be entered into an instance document.

Figure 13: Numeric Value Conventions

Category

Balance

Normally appears in instance document as

Asset

Debit

Positive (Credit would be negative)

Liability & Equity

Credit

Positive (Debit would be negative)

Revenue

Credit

Positive (Debit would be negative)

Expense

Debit

Positive (Credit would be negative)

 

 

 

Other Income (Expenses)

 

Positive or (Negative)

 

 

 

Cash Inflows

 

Positive

Cash Outflows

 

Positive

 

 

 

Number of Employees

 

Positive

3.12.               Segmentation

XBRL instance documents distinguish facts that relate to different segments of an entity by using the XBRL nonNumericContext and numericContext elements. For example, revenues for an entire entity, and its revenues segmented by geographical regions, e.g., Americas, Asia-Pacific, and EMEA, are represented by using four different numericContexts.

Important note: Instance documents using the IAS taxonomy must use the entity context or the entity context segment mechanism to distinguish disclosures related to continuing and discontinued operations.

4.   Sample Company Sample Instance Document

4.1.                    Introduction

An example instance document that accords with the PFS Taxonomy, Sample Company, at http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/SampleCompany-2002-11-15.xml (xml) and a Acrobat version of the accounts is at http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/SampleCompany-2002-11-15.pdf (PDF). Sample Company provides an example of how instance documents will apply the taxonomy.

4.2.                    Balance Sheet Example

Figure 14 shows the Consolidate Balance Sheet for Sample Company for the Year Ended 31 December 2002 with comparative information for 31 December 2001.

Figure 14: Balance Sheet of Sample Company

The instance document uses a five contexts to represent information in the four statements. Three contexts represent instants in time: “Current_AsOf” for the 31 December 2002, “Prior_AsOf” for the 31 December 2001 and “PriorPrior_AsOf” for the 31 December 2000. The last item is required for the Statement of Changes in Equity There are two contexts for periods: “Current_ForPeriod” for the year ended 31 December 2002 and “Prior_ForPeriod” for the year ended 31 December 2001.

Taking Minority Interest as an example, the Balance Sheet shows €91,000 as at 31 December 2002 and €90,400 as at 31 December 2001. These facts are represented in the instance document as:

<iascf-pfs:MinorityInterestsNetAssets numericContext="Current_AsOf">91000</ iascf-pfs:MinorityInterestsNetAssets>

 

<iascf-pfs:MinorityInterestsNetAssets numericContext="Prior_AsOf">90400</ iascf-pfs:MinorityInterestsNetAssets>

 

The shows a namespace declaration “iascf-pfs”. When one follows the links within the instance document one will find:

xmlns:iascf-pfs="http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15"

 

The namespace declaration links the instance document back to the XBRL IASCF PFS taxonomy.

The fact for Minority Interest for the Year Ended 31 December 2002 in the instance document also refer to the following Numeric Context: “numericContext="Current_AsOf"

When one follows the links within the instance document one will find:

   <numericContext id="Current_AsOf" precision="18" cwa="true">

      <entity>

         <identifier scheme="http://www.sampleCompany.com">Sample Company</identifier>

      </entity>

      <period>

         <instant>2002-12-31</instant>

      </period>

      <unit>

         <measure>iso4217:EUR</measure>

      </unit>

 

One can see that this provides information on the entity, in this case Sample Company; the period, in this case the instant in time of 31 December 2002 and the currency, in this case Euros, according to the ISO 4217 enumerated list of currencies.

5.   Review and Testing, Updates and Changes

5.1.                    Change Log

None at this time.

5.2.                    Updates to this Taxonomy

This taxonomy will be updated with revisions for errors and new features within the following guidelines:

·         Since financial statements created using a taxonomy must be available indefinitely, the taxonomy must be available indefinitely. All updates will take the form of new versions of the taxonomy with a different date. For example, the taxonomy http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2002-11-15/ias-ci-pfs-2002-11-15.xsd will never change. New versions will be issued under a different name, such as “http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ci/pfs/2003-12-31/ias-ci-pfs-2002-12-31.xsd”. This will ensure that any taxonomy created will be available indefinitely.

5.3.                    Errors and Clarifications

The following information relating to this taxonomy will be accumulated:

If you wish to report an error or require a clarification, please provide feedback as indicated in the “Comments and Feedback” section of this document.

5.4.                    Comments and Feedback

Comments and feedback are welcome, particularly ideas to improve this taxonomy. If you have a comment or feedback or wish to report an error, post comments to:

xbrlfeedback@iasb.org.uk (mailto:xbrlfeedback@iasb.org.uk)

6.   Acknowledgements

A tremendous effort has gone into creating this piece of intellectual property that is being licensed royalty-free worldwide by the IASC Foundation and XBRL International for use and benefit of all. The IASC Foundation and members of XBRL International believe that this cooperative effort will benefit all participants in the financial information supply chain.

The IASC Foundation and XBRL International would like to acknowledge the contributions of the following individuals for their work in the creation of this taxonomy, and to their organizations that provided funds and time for their participation in this effort:

Name

Organization

Accounting Jurisdiction

Alastair Boult

Audit New Zealand

New Zealand

Roger Debreceny

Nanyang Technological University

Singapore

Kersten Droste

PricewaterhouseCoopers

Germany

Thomas Egan

Deloitte and Touche

Singapore

Dave Garbutt

FRS

South Africa

Preetisura Gupta

PricewaterhouseCoopers

Singapore

David Hardidige

Ernst and Young

Australia

David Huxtable

KPMG

Australia

Walter Hamscher

Standard Advantage

USA

Charles Hoffman

UBMatrix

USA

Josef Macdonald

Ernst and Young

New Zealand

Gillian Ong

Nanyang Technological University

Singapore

Ong Suat Ling

Andersen

Singapore

Paul Phenix

Australian Stock Exchange

Australia

Kurt Ramin

IASB

IAS

David Prather

IASB

IAS

Julie Santoro

KPMG

IAS

Mark Schnitzer

Morgan Stanley

USA

Geoff Shuetrim

KPMG

Australia

Stephen Taylor

Deloitte and Touche

Hong Kong

Bruno Tesniere

PricewaterhouseCoopers

Belgium

Alan Teixeira

University of Auckland

New Zealand

Jan Wentzel

PricewaterhouseCoopers

South Africa

Charles Yeo

Ernst and Young

Singapore

7.   XBRL International Members

A current list of corporate members of XBRL International can be found at the www.xbrl.org web site.