On June 2nd, the SEC's Division of Economic and Risk Analysis (DERA) published an analysis of custom tags used in XBRL filings submitted by issuers to comply with the 2009 Interactive Data tagging rules that require financial statement information to be reported in XBRL, a structured, machine-readable format. DERA observed trends in filers' use of custom tags in their XBRL exhibits submitted in Forms 10-K and 10-K/A using US GAAP for fiscal years 2022 through 2024. The analysis of these forms indicates a decrease in average custom tag rate for filings across all filer status, while the large accelerated filer category rate remained flat during that period.
Under the SEC’s rules, filers may create custom tags when the standard taxonomy does not provide an appropriate element to tag the data. This customization accommodates certain circumstances in a filer’s particular disclosure, however, the SEC noted that the use of custom tags may potentially mitigate the comparability of inter-company data. For this reason, the SEC specifies the limited circumstances under which rules allow a filer to create custom tags.
DERA staff has classified large accelerated filers, accelerated filers, non-accelerated filers, and smaller reporting companies based on the filers’ self-identification in XBRL data of their Forms 10-K and 10-K/A. Filers that self-identified as a smaller reporting company and reported a separate filer status were included in both categories.
The SEC will continue to review filers’ use of XBRL custom tags in submissions, and depending on its findings, DERA staff may issue guidance, share additional trends, or pursue other actions. Interested parties may submit inquiries and comments via email at StructuredData@sec.gov or by leaving a voicemail at (202) 551-5494.
Our support team is available to answer any questions you may have about custom tags. If you have questions regarding your financial reporting process, give Novaworks a call at (585) 424-1700 or email us at sales@novaworkssoftware.com.
Source:
US GAAP – XBRL Custom Tags Trend for 2022 - 2024 (sec.gov)
