After an appointment with a leading banking group this week, it was refreshing to hear them show the insight into what could be done with the iXBRL document other than send it to HMRC.  Immediately they have plans to reuse the document and post it on their website for their analysts to review.  Because they have over 100 reporting entities in the UK alone, the opportunity to have a common format (they follow our template driven principles) will start to payback from the first year.
Other possible uses that they see for iXBRL in the future included consolidating the information in a central db, this is even more of a incentive to global companies.  iXBRL in the UK isn't a barrier for them to merge their information with their global reporting entities who use XBRL.  XBRL lurks within the iXBRL document and now you can compare your figures from all your global entities with a bit of forethought and planning.

Daniel Roberts in his blogagrees, "One of the benefits of XBRL is the ability to directly consume the information into computer systems to avoid manual re-keying. This is particularly important if a company wants the analyst community to either cover the company, or at a minimum to include the company as a comparator to a covered company. Any need to re-key information would impose time and error costs on analysts, and will ‘de-select’ that company from the list of comparators, if it is possible to simply import the information provided by another company in the same industry segment"  Read the rest of Dan's blog at http://xbrlblog.com/ixbrl-uk-companies-have-a-great-opportunity.html

Arkk is working with the CFDG (Charity Finance Director’s Group) to develop a range of cost-effective options for charities of all sizes.  Despite the best efforts of HMRC to encourage users to use the free gateway to submit iXBRL Accounts, the simplicity of the information that can be entered means that for charities of a certain size and complexity, this will not be a realistic option.

The extension to the UK GAAP taxonomy to cover charities is still in draft form, indeed we have a preview copy (not for circulation!), and the signs are that it will be published in May or June of this year.  Initial reaction to the proposed extension suggests that the challenge will be not what to put in it, but at what point to stop!  It is understood that the immediate impact of this Taxonomy will be on corporate charities required to file a CT Return with HMRC.

We participated in a working on-line filing group earlier this week in London and the next one will be in mid-May at the CFDG’s annual meeting when we will, in conjunction with HMRC, run a series of breakout workshops for delegates with the aim of increasing awareness and demystifying the topic of iXBRL.  Also present at this week’s workshop were senior figures from CIAEW and HMRC along with FD’s from many of the major charities.

If you’re an FD of a charity and would like to keep up to date with the group’s latest developments please contact  megan.mcinally@cfdg.org.uk, you can also get the latest from us on this topic and others by following us on Twitter @ixbrl