Experts in iXBRL

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The surprise hit in this Christmas' annual toy war was the Doggie Doo: for those without children, a plastic sausage dog that delivers coils of plasticine from its tail end to the delight of girls and boys alike.

Defecating dachshunds were low on the wish-lists of our iXBRL customers this Christmas. For many this was the first time they would submit returns under iXBRL, and what they wanted was their December year-ends done and dusted in time to sing Auld Lang Syne. For the vast majority their wish came true, but for an unlucky few the lump of coal in their stocking came as a rejected HMRC submission. So what steps can be taken to ensure you do not find yourself on the HMRC's naughty list in future?

1) Submit as early as possible. It may be wearing thin but this remains the best advice for those submitting in iXBRL for the first time. The Arkk support team was kept busy over the festive period and the most common complaint was unavailability of support from submission-software providers and tax advisers. IXBRL is still new technology and unexpected issues do arise, so if you have a March year end and you see chocolate bunnies in the shops, it may be time to think about submitting.

2) Test submit. If you are unlikely to be ready to submit until the last minute, most submission software and tax agents can provide a test-submission service, essentially a dry run for your actual submission. This should identify any issues early on. Beware of testing accounts, comps or return documents in isolation as this will only tell you that one part of the submission is sound, not the whole envelope. It is also worth noting that 'validation' is not the same as test submission. Some submission packages provide false-negatives - 'errors' that will not cause your submissions to fail - which are often best ignored.

3) Register for online submission. If you fail to register for corporation tax online with HMRC, you cannot submit in iXBRL, and if you leave it until the last minute you will most likely miss your submission deadline. It can take about a week to receive your login details in the post so make sure you sign up in good time.

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1. My accounts are industry-specific and do not fit the standard format

If you operate in the banking, mining or charity sectors, the good news is you have your own XBRL taxonomies of accounting terms designed to accommodate your non-standard accounts. If you operate in other industries like insurance, you may find fitting your accounts to the standard UK GAAP and UK IFRS is akin to a square peg and round hole. The key is to do the best you can with the concepts available.

2. I need to submit accounts to HMRC that are not prepared under UK GAAP or IFRS

With the exception of US GAAP, HMRC is not currently accepting taxonomies for other territories so it may not be possible to convert your accounts into iXBRL for submission. It may be necessary to submit in PDF, but liaise with HMRC as soon as possible to confirm this will be acceptable.

3. Not all my disclosures can be XBRL tagged

This is not unusual. In fact it is highly unlikely every disclosure will be taggable because you are limited by the taxonomy in use. If you choose to split Accruals and Deferred Income in your UK GAAP accounts, for instance, you may find you cannot tag both lines. The key is to tag as much as possible with the accounting concepts available.

4. But if not all my numbers are in iXBRL my accounts won't balance

Not a problem in itself as iXBRL is not a casting exercise. If you find you cannot tag every line in your P&L, your submission will not be rejected out of hand, and so long as you have tagged as much as possible, the HMRC should have no cause for complaint.

5. I have spotted mistakes in my accounts. Will this cause my submission to fail?

The short answer is no, unless your XBRL data contains inconsistencies. For instance, if you tag your profit before tax for current year as both £50m and £51m, chances are your submission will fail. There are workarounds, but the best solution is to fix these kinds of mistakes prior to conversion.

6. My provider has given me an HTML file for submission when I need iXBRL

No need for concern. Confusingly, accounts and tax comps submitted in iXBRL are not '.ixbrl' files but '.html', familiar to most as web pages.

7. My HTML looks different from my original accounts / tax comp

Again, no need for concern, so long as the user can still read your report and understand your disclosures. An HTML is governed by different rules to Word, Excel and PDF documents. A web page eschews page breaks, for instance, preferring instead a 'scroll-down' format, so your table of contents might look rather redundant. The key is to remember that these reports are for HMRC and not the AGM, so focus not on how pretty they are, but how practical they are.

8. I am submitting myself and my submission was rejected by HMRC

The vast majority of failed self-submissions are caused by basic discrepancies between the return and supporting documents. If your submission fails, your first step should be to check your CoHo numbers, UTRs and reporting periods all tie up. If your submission still fails, your next step is to contact your iXBRL solution provider. Given that this is their business, any dedicated supplier should have qualified accountants and technical expertise on hand to see you through to successful submission.

9. My accountant says my iXBRL accounts / tax comps have failed submission

Assuming your accountant has not made any basic errors, it may be necessary to contact your iXBRL solution provider with details of the errors received. Very few errors cannot be rectified within a matter of minutes, so if your accountant or supplier tries to tell you it will take days or weeks, it might be worth asking why.

10. Do my dormant entity accounts need to be in iXBRL?

The first principle of iXBRL is the reports you submit to HMRC have not changed, only the formats have changed. If HMRC required you to submit dormant accounts last year, the chances are they will be required this year too - in iXBRL.

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Last year, many companies submitted their Accounts and Computations for the first time in the new iXBRL format required by HMRC, and as you'll imagine, this meant it was a very busy year for us.

It was great working with some of the leading companies in the UK like F&C Investments, Skipton Building Society and Paul Smith, to mention a few. Our iXBRL conversion software proved very popular and our managed tagging team successfully converted over 1000 Accounts and Computations into iXBRL.

This year, we will be carrying on the pace from last year. We will be launching a new iXBRL solution aimed at making it easier for companies to convert their Accounts into iXBRL. Our team are now even more experienced in iXBRL tagging and we are looking forward to applying that experience accordingly.

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Are you in the insurance industry? Join us at ICAEW's 'Financial and Regulatory Reporting for Insurers' event on Wednesday 9th, November where we will be discussing the impact of iXBRL in the insurance industry.

Our discussion will cover topical issues such as:

- Explanation of what iXBRL is;

- Timeliness in its introduction (tax, accounts filing, Solvency II);

- Choices in tagging languages;

- Practical issues for insurers in getting ready to use more iXBRL

To find out more about the event, please click here.

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We are very pleased to announce the launch of our new iXBRL Viewer!

Using Microsoft's Silverlight technology, the iXBRL Viewer runs in your browser, enabling you to print and display the tags embedded in your document. We never store or copy any document added to the viewer so your information stays confidential.

To find out more about the iXBRL Viewer, please click here.

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1. Make the most of the soft-landing period 

This doesn't mean do as little as possible for the first two years; it means make the most of the HMRC's grace period to prepare for when things get serious in year 3.

2. Submit early 

The chance to get in before the 31 March deadline has now passed, but early submission still has its benefits. Most outsourcing providers will charge a premium for conversions at peak times, and tech support teams are likely to be stretched in weeks leading up to common year ends.

3. Match your solution to your resources 

If you have a finance team of accountants in house, it makes sense to make the most of this valuable resource with some tagging software. If however you don't have that luxury, outsourcing will probably be your best option.

4. Don't buy the book unless you know how to cook!

In other words, iXBRL software is not much use unless you know you can use it. Firstly, it is important to recognise that the conversion of statutory accounts requires somebody that knows accounts. This is not a job for the teenager on work experience. And secondly, don't view the offer of training as naked upselling. It will ensure you get the most out of your investment, and should be retained within your business for years to come.

5. Don't expect software to answer all your prayers 

There is no shortage of software packages on the market - some excellent, some not. But regardless of which you opt for it is important to appreciate that iXBRL is a relatively new phenomenon. Accounts production software has been around for years, and yet those of you who use it will appreciate that no package comes without its annoying idiosyncrasies. You won't find it in the marketing material, but all iXBRL software has its shortcomings. I can get away with saying this because Arkk's happens to be probably the most robust on the market, but there is no perfect package out there. The trick is to try before you buy and not take any slick demos at face value.

6. Price isn't everything

When choosing an iXBRL provider, basing the decision on cost alone can quickly prove a false economy. Before signing any cheques always be clear what support is included in the price and ensure your provider has the in-house expertise to deal with issues should they arise.

7. Invest in Year 1

The introduction of iXBRL has been a headache for most businesses this year. The last thing you want is to go through the whole ordeal all over again 12 months later. Set yourself up with a viable solution for at least the next three years and you'll sleep much better in 2012.

8. Expect savings in Year 2

Some providers will try to convince you that the first year price should remain the same in years two and three. In the vast majority of cases this is simply not the case. Regardless of your solution, there should be significant cost savings.

9. Look beyond your auditor

When new technology is forced upon us, it is natural that some will settle for the reassuring familiarity of a name they know. But there's a reason not everyone buys their internet from BT any more. Other providers will often offer more flexible, more reliable and more competitively-priced solutions - so don't commit until you've seen what the market has to offer.

10. Don't delay!

It would be nice to say don't panic, but the fact is time is running out if you haven't yet secured your iXBRL solution and you have a popular year end. Finance teams need time to adopt new software packages; the best outsourced conversion providers are already booking up their December and March year end submission slots, and prices are only expected to go one way as deadlines approach.

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I have been reading with interest about the cost reduction and cost cutting role of the Finance Director. It is no surprise that companies are tightening their belts in the current economic climate; even the HMRC has the challenge of achieving a whopping £1.6bn reduction in costs by 2015 while improving service quality! This can offer some explanations to its recent adoption of iXBRL, which not only allows the HMRC to make significant savings in its processing costs but also allows it to improve its risk assessment quality.

One of the articles that really caught my attention was the cost boomerang piece on financialdirector.co.uk. I find it interesting that a lot of CFOs and Finance Directors believe that only 5% of cost savings made during the recession can be sustained in the long term. Obviously as the economy picks up and people regain their confidence to spend, the company automatically sees an increase in cost as it invests more in staff and resources to cater for the rise in demand. However, I believe there are some cost savings yet to be made, possibly even within the accounts department itself.

Take iXBRL for example, at Arkk Solutions we have been contacted by many FTSE250 companies whose first point of call for their iXBRL conversion needs were accountancy firms and software providers they have used in the past. Unsurprisingly, over 95% of these companies went on to choose us over these providers once they realised we could offer them the same level of service (and in some cases, even better service) at on average 50% cheaper.

Why are we able to do this? Well, we specialise in one thing – iXBRL conversions, and our expertise means we’re not spread thinly and can get things done faster. This in turn results in significant cost savings which gets passed on to our customers. Whilst we’re not the cheapest iXBRL provider out there, our prices are very competitive for the high quality of service we offer as standard.

I wonder if a whole range of cost savings can be made across the business by simply switching providers where the only difference is price. There are many niche businesses out there who like Arkk Solutions are very good at what they do and can offer better service at a more "reasonable” price tag. To me, this makes perfect sense and it seems our customers think so too.

So what do you think? How has your company made cost savings during the recession? Do you think these savings can be maintained in the long term? I'll like to hear from you, please leave your comments below.

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There's been a lot of queries into Arkk lately about Notes on Statutory Accounts and whether they will make it into the iXBRL.  HMRC don't label the Notes fields by number in their mandatory requirements list, but there's a certainly plenty of space for them.  In fact many of our clients are going to use the Notes fields as a general depot for info that has no obvious tag.  What this does mean of course is that the accounts you submit in iXBRL CAN look like the hard copies you submit today.

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iXBRL is a new format for submitting corporation tax online, including tax computations and accounts to HMRC.

HMRC officially stated that from 1 April 2011, all companies and organisations must submit their Company Tax Return online for any accounting period ending after 31 March 2010.

If you have to prepare accounts under the Companies Act 2006, you must submit your accounts and computations in a set format - Inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language (iXBRL).

So this means that each document within your company accounts and tax computations now needs to be “tagged” with an XBRL tag, and submitted with your company tax return.

As this is a new way of submitting, HMRC have given a 2 year “soft landing” approach, where you only need to tag from a list of around 1500 elements, called the minimum tagging list.

However, in 2013 when HMRC mandate the “full tagging” of accounts, you will have to choose correctly from the full list of over 5000 tags for UK GAAP companies.

What iXBRL options are available?

Here at Arkk Solutions, we are HMRC recognised iXBRL Managed Tagging Service providers and iXBRL Conversion Software Application providers.

We offer iXBRL OutSource Tagging at Arkk Solutions, which involves outsourcing your financial statements to our experienced team. This is a popular choice during the HMRC’s “soft landing”, particularly for companies that do not wish to purchase specialist software or find additional resource to carry out the task internally during the lead up to 2013.

The iXBRL OutSource Tagging service allows you to submit your non iXBRL accounts or computation documents to us in Word or Excel.  We will convert them into iXBRL for you, and review them before returning them to you as iXBRL tagged documents ready for submission. Watch our video, explaining our cost-effective iXBRL Outsource Tagging service here.

We also offer our iXBRL adapter for Microsoft Office, which is a conversion software application. If your company prepare and present their company tax documents in Microsoft Word or Microsoft Office, then there is no need to change your processes. At Arkk Solutions, we offer a simple “add in” adapter which can be installed straight onto a desktop machine. The adapter then allows you to apply an appropriate XBRL tag to each data item. You will then be provided with an iXBRL version of your accounts that can be incorporated into a company tax return for submission. You can watch a demo of our iXBRL adapter for Microsoft Office here.

Our services are straightforward and easy to use, and we offer experienced customer support, to ensure you are comfortable with how you use our iXBRL tools.

Undecided on whether to outsource iXBRL tagging, or to prepare them yourself?

Some businesses may be averse to outsourcing iXBRL, as they might want their accounts teams to practice preparing before the HMRC mandate in 2013. However, this means training for them team, finding the right resource and the worry of not preparing the account files correctly.

Arkk Solutions offer an iXBRL Blended Solution which means you can outsource your iXBRL to us in the first year. We will provide you with all of the files once they are tagged so that you can keep the templates, and regain control the following year by bringing iXBRL tagging back in-house. This means you can re-use your Year 1 files for future years, a service which no other company provides. This provides a solid return on investment for your business, as instead of starting from scratch the following year, your accounts team will have a good grasp on the format HMRC require.  Find out more about the iXBRL Blended Solutions here.

If you have any questions about our services and software, please do not hesitate to contact us on 0207 0601983 or through our online form.

You can also contact us through social media; on Twitter or Facebook.

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HM Revenue & Customs has come under fire in the past week, after a group of MP’s claimed their basis services were flawed.

The Treasury Select Committee last week released a report accusing HMRC of “endemic delays”, pointing out overstretched staff and unanswered calls from the public.

They also stated that an increasing focus on online communication and tax submission may alienate those with unreliable internet connections.

The report, which was commissioned to investigate allegations of poor performance, stated: “HMRC's delivery of services to the general public has fallen to unacceptable levels in several areas.

"There is considerable dissatisfaction among the public and tax professionals with the service provided by the department."

Mike Clasper, the chairman of HMRC, apologised at the end of last week, for poor performance and huge delays. Complaints specifically detailed the fact that customers could not get through for over the phone advice, and letters were left unanswered.

Mr Clasper admitted: "We are not happy with our performance in 2010." He told BBC Radio Five live that the service they provided to taxpayers in 2010 wasn’t good enough.

"In 2011 we've been working very very hard to improve things. We're handling the calls immediately much more frequently than we did in 2010, and as far as individual customers are concerned you know the post levels have dropped in half.

We would like to know what do you think of HMRC’s services - have you ever had a particularly bad experience?

Also, do you think there is enough advice and help out there for taxpayers, or should HMRC be releasing more details? You can let us know on Twitter or leave a message on our Facebook Wall.

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