Tips & useful information: Filing XBRL financial statements

Importing prior year's data

You can only import previously saved XBRL.zip files that comply with ACRA's XBRL Taxonomy 2022 or later. Learn the three ways to retrieve prior year's data to facilitate current year filing.

Completing the XBRL template

Ensure that you have completed all templates required. Only leave fields blank if they are not applicable to your company.

Matching XBRL data to FS

The figures or format in your XBRL file need to match your annual general meeting (AGM) FS.

Where required, use a “best-fit” principle to match items to the taxonomy. Only classify unique items (which cannot be mapped to any concept in the taxonomy) under “others”. 

Completing the income statement template

The XBRL income statement template collects information by “nature of expense” as the presentation of key expenses by nature will always be available, either in the income statement or in the note.

What you need to do:

1. Companies which present their income statement using the “function of expense” format must still disclose their key expenses by nature in the notes to the FS, as required under the accounting standards. 

2. Check the notes in the AGM FS and map to the breakdown of expenses required in Income Statement XBRL template, based on best-fit principle.

3. Complete the fields under "Profit (loss), attributable to" in the income statement XBRL template.

   • Calculation for ease of reference:
     “Total profit (loss), net of taxation for the year” 
     = “Total profit (loss), net of taxation, attributable to owners of company” 
     + “Total profit (loss), net of taxation, attributable to non-controlling interests”.

4. Present how the profit or loss for the period is attributed, under FRS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements paragraph 81B(a). If there is no disclosure in the AGM FS, please check with your company's accountant to see if the full amount of total profit (loss) should be attributed to the owners of the company. 

Matching text block data in XBRL format

The "Disclosure of complete set of financial statements" text block's content has to be complete, legible and identical to your AGM FS.

What you need to do: Ensure that the text block contains a complete set of FS. This should include a statement by directors, auditors' report, four primary statements and FS notes.

• To update your text block data, double-click on the text block cell to open the text editor. Then, copy and paste the full set of FS from your imported source document into the text block. Watch video tutorial. 

• If your source document contains embedded Excel objects, use the Embedded Excel Conversion Utility (installed with the BizFinx preparation tool) to generate properly structured tables. Check the Quick Guide for BizFinx Preparation Tool for more details on this function.

Completing specific templates

For property, plant and equipment (PPE) and "Note - Intangible Assets templates", you need to:

1. Include any right-of-use assets accounted for as PPE within the:

   • “Property, plant and equipment, non-current” balance in “Statement of Financial Position” template; and

   • The movements of PPE in the “Note – Property, plant and equipment” template, based on the "best-fit" principle.

2. Include any right-of-use assets accounted for as intangible assets within the:

   • “Intangible assets (excluding goodwill), non-current” balance in “Statement of Financial Position” template; and

   • The movements of Intangible assets in “Note – Intangible Assets” template.

Replacing uploaded XBRL files

If your uploaded XBRL file has an error, you do not need to delete the incorrect file. You can upload a new XBRL file.

Note: Uploaded XBRL files are kept for 14 days from the date of upload. If you cannot file your annual return within this timeframe, you will need to upload your XBRL FS again.

Other functions within the preparation tool  

• Auto-tagging function: You can use the “auto-tagging” function to populate the latest data for all previously-tagged elements in the statement of financial position, income statement and statement of cash flow. However, auto-tagging will not work on common elements in the XBRL FS (such as trade and other receivables under both current and non-current categories, in the statement of financial position).

• Company label: Company labels from the prior year are automatically available when you load your data. This includes combined company labels (defined element names separated by "│"). 

• Footnote: You can use the footnotes to indicate relevant information (example breakdown) about the data. Ensure the footnote is still relevant and accurate before you submit.

• Custom date options: Check that the template format is similar to the AGM FS. For example, these should match: Current or prior financial year start and end dates, and the number of columns. To add, edit or delete a third column (e.g. for the beginning of the preceding period due to restatements), use the “custom date options” function in the toolbox.

• Adding Company columns: To add or delete columns on "Company" in your consolidated FS, use the “company” function in the toolbox.

Common business rule errors