We’ve just come through a mini-series on the ESEF filing process, where we talked in detail about the digital annual report you must submit to your local regulator and ensuring quality while preparing its two parts – an instance document and a company taxonomy.
We also had a few tips about bringing quality to the process of tagging, forming extension elements, and anchoring them appropriately. We elaborated on calculation errors that stem from failing to consider the balance types of ESEF taxonomy elements and how you could avoid them. In closing the mini-series, we looked at the company taxonomy and quality in terms of preparing the four linkbases that comprise it.
Now, over the next two articles, we will talk about software built specifically for auditing and reviewing ESEF documents in terms of the features such software should offer, and the tasks they should help you accomplish.
XII certified tool – Either standalone or integrated with reporting software
If a detailed, in-house review of your ESEF documents is what you wish to accomplish, you could opt for a review tool to be integrated with your disclosure management software. If your purpose is to audit your clients’ documents, you could opt for a standalone solution that will allow you to upload, audit, and sign off on the documents. Either way, make sure that the tool you pick is an XBRL International Certified review and consumption software.
Cloud-based and collaborative software, with hosting flexibility
The benefit of cloud-based software is that there are no hardware or software installation requirements for starting out, and no IT costs to bear at that stage. You could ensure that the cloud is hosted on a secure platform such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web or Google.
In case you have concerns about how secure your financial information is, you could either opt for a dedicated cloud or have the software installed on your company hardware. It would be helpful if your software is collaborative as multiple people would be able to carry out the audit and review process simultaneously or separately from anywhere.
XII certified validator built-in
It would help if your software has an integrated XBRL International Certified validator that would allow you to instantly check if your reporting package complies with the ESEF reporting manual and ESEF compliance suite as well as XBRL International specifications.
You must also be able to navigate from a validation message display to the exact place in your document where errors have occurred. Validation messages are generally heavy on jargon and difficult to understand, and the tool you opt for must display messages that are easier to understand.
To sum up, your ideal audit and review software should be XII certified, with the option of being used as a standalone tool or being integrated with reporting software. It must be collaborative and offer you flexibility on whether it is cloud-based or desktop-based. And, lastly, the ideal software must have an XII-certified validator built in.
