Analysis of ESDs and ESD use cases in XBRL

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Introduction

The following section summarises the analysis work performed by the task force as part of the investigation into the business requirements of the users of ESDs and how those requirements are currently met.

The task force expects that a data user using automated computer consumption should be able to identify entity-specific disclosures (ESDs) properties that are shared with base taxonomy (BT) concepts if XBRL relationships connecting the ESDs to the BT are provided, for example, using calculation roll-ups.

Some properties may be unique to the ESD and could require investing upfront time to understand the properties. However, once the user determines the meaning of the reported item, and it remains consistent period over period, it can support an efficient and effective time series analysis.

The taskforce also made assumptions about the ease of automatic consumption of ESDs, including; labels are not an easy or reliable source of information for automation as we think language processing is not sufficiently developed yet; and, there will continue to be technological developments in data analysis but the aim is to improve the ease of automated processing now.

The analysis work included the discussion of a number of examples from financial statements. A few of these examples are provided but many more were used during the work of the task force.

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