Below is a summary of the changes in the new XBRL taxonomy as well as a link to a quick reference guide that lists out all the new, deprecated, and modified elements within the 2020 US GAAP taxonomy. This reference guide also contains information about changes to the other taxonomies, such as SRT and EXCH.

What’s New in 2020

This year, changes were made to address required ASUs, common reporting practices, and projects designed to improve the utility of the taxonomy. Many new elements and deprecations occurred from the remodeling of topical areas for retirement benefits regarding multiemployer plans, variable interest entities and equity method investments, and ASU transition modeling.

380 new US GAAP elements: 380 new GAAP elements were added to the UGT: 227 due to ASUs, 3 due to ASUs and Topical Projects, 103 due to Topical Projects, 5 due to Reference Project, and 42 due to public comments and internal analyses. Eight new elements have been added to the SRT.

440 changes to documentation: 440 elements had their documentation label (definition) changed for various reasons. Among those, 23 elements had their documentation label changed as a result of Accounting Standards Updates (ASUs). 383 elements had their documentation label changed due to public comments or internal analyses, which is usually done to clarify the definition of a concept, to remove unnecessarily restrictive wording, and to correct inconsistencies. 22 elements had their documentation label changed because of Topical Projects. Six elements had their documentation label changed due to a combination of ASU and Topical Projects. Finally, six elements had their documentation label changed due to the reference project.

475 label changes: 475 elements had their Standard, Period Start, Period End, and/or Total labels changed to better reflect the intended application of the element.

17 property changes: 17 elements had their data type changed from the percentItemType to the pureItemType.

699 added Taxonomy Implementation Notes: 699 Taxonomy Implementation Notes (TINs) were added for 652 elements to assist preparers with determining their intended use.

324 deprecated elements: Elements are deprecated for a number of reasons, including errors in their creation, because the element was superseded by ASUs or other GAAP changes, or low usage. The Change Notes for an element contains information about each element as follows:

Taxonomy Version – contains the version of the Taxonomy in which the deprecation is applicable.

Change Date – contains the year and month in which the deprecation was made.

Deprecated Date – contains the date on which the element is deprecated. The date of deprecation is the date after which the element no longer should be used.

Deprecated Label – contains the reason for the deprecation.

Deprecation Replacement – contains a possible replacement element or possible replacement elements, if applicable. Multiple replacement elements are separated by a space. Not all elements will have a replacement element.

Element Deprecated – contains the value of true to indicate it is a deprecation.

Modified Deprecated Label – contains the value of true if the part for Deprecated Label has been modified.

XBRL preparers can also use the definition linkbase to view relationships between deprecated elements and other elements within the taxonomy. Deprecated elements will remain in the taxonomy for two years to aid in transitioning financial reports and viewing legacy documents but should not be used in new SEC filings.

Removal of the 2017 UGT deprecated elements: The 176 elements that were deprecated in the 2019 UGT will no longer appear in the 2020 UGT.

Removal of the INVEST elements: INVEST elements will no longer appear in the 2020 UGT.

In addition to the above, starting with the 2020 Taxonomy, filers will no longer be able to import or reference the Taxonomy Disclosure Templates (TDTs) that have been made available in the taxonomy. The TDTs will continue to be available in the taxonomy as illustrations and support for taxonomy implementation guides.

The XBRL US DQC Rules Taxonomy (DQCRT) is also published with the 2020 taxonomy. This includes XBRL USDQC Rules. This initial implementation is limited to three DQCRs.

Implementation Guides for the 2020 Taxonomy have been published by FASB and are available here. Topics covered by the guides include: accounting changes, financing receivable and current expected credit loss disclosures, insurance — long-duration contracts, leases under Topic 842, retirement benefits — phase 3, and revenue from contracts with customers (including Statement Presentation of Revenue and Cost of Revenue).

While there is currently a transition period where the SEC will continue to accept EDGAR filings that use older taxonomies, we always recommend making the move to the latest taxonomy as soon as possible. The taxonomies change because of ASUs, public comment, analysis of data, and other impetuses. The most valuable data you can provide your investors and the public will be data that is the most up to date with accounting standards and financial reporting standards.

Sources:

2020 US GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy (www.fasb.org)