Welcome to the third and final chapter in the “Guidelines to Tag your SEC Filings in iXBRL” series. The previous two articles in this series would have given you a fair understanding of dealing with duplicate amounts and how the hidden section in iXBRL functions. This article today focuses on SEC’s iXBRL viewer and its functionalities.
Reviewing the iXBRL document is a crucial step before your final submission. For this purpose, the SEC has provided a link to an open-source iXBRL viewer Arelle, an. This viewer enables filers to test their iXBRL report and confirm how it will appear on the SEC’s website post final submission via EDGAR. The iXBRL viewer enables you to view not just the HTML, but also all the facts that have been tagged in the report, whether it’s on the face of the document, or in the hidden section.
A small digression before we get to the viewer in more detail.
Pre-submission Checks
The viewer’s job is to only display the human-readable final version of your iXBRL report. You cannot edit or make changes to your report in the viewer. So you need to make sure that certain aspects are addressed before you get to the viewer – the pre-submission checks.
These include:
- Checking for any validation warnings and errors on your Software Service Provider’s platform. Rectify the warnings (if any) and make your iXBRL document is correct and valid.
- Make sure you’ve reviewed aspects such as the file name and description, submission type, attached documents, and email addresses that will be notified once your document is filed.
Once you’re certain that your file is ready for the SEC’s Inline XBRL viewer, download the pre-built application with the EDGAR renderer and local viewer which has been provided by Arelle. The viewer is well-equipped with different filter options and a Facts Search bar that can be used to check different aspects of the report comfortably. The rest of the page will display the human-readable version of your iXBRL report.
The top-fold of the viewer has the Menu, Sections, Facts Search bar, Data filter, Tags filter, and other filter options. You will also notice the Facts section on the top right of the previewer will expand when you click on it.
How to use the SEC’s Inline XBRL viewer
Search Facts Bar
- Once you’ve uploaded the iXBRL files to the viewer, they will appear on your browser in a human-readable version and all the tagged values will be marked with two parallel lines:
The example above is a 10-Q form in iXBRL format.
- Any element between two parallel lines is a tagged value. If you click on these elements, a pop-up window will display the attributes of the tag.
In this example, when you click on INDUSTRIAL SERVICES OF AMERICA, INC, an attribute window pops up and reveals the tag, fact, period, and type associated with this value.
- Alternately, you can directly type the name of the fact you’re looking for in the ‘Search Facts’ The viewer accommodates specific data, tags,s, and any other filter which we will explore further in this article.
In this case, the viewer is displaying the value for Operating Lease, Liabilities, and non-current. The value for the same has been highlighted in yellow.
The Facts Section
On the top right of the page, you will see a Facts section which will display every tagged fact-value along with every page of the document. When you select a fact, the viewer will display its corresponding attribute. This feature is handy if you want to check any fact in your document.
Once you select the ‘Document type’ fact in the facts section, the 10-Q in the title of the report is highlighted to indicate that it is the value to which the tag ‘DocumentType’ has been assigned and the attributes associated with it are displayed in the attributes pop-up window.
How to Apply Filters
You can apply specific filters to search for and check facts that meet the filter criteria.
Data Filter option
As the name suggests, this function allows you to filter the data in your iXBRL report based on the following factors:
- Amounts only
- Text only
- Calculations only
- Negatives only
- Additional items only
As a reference, we’ve selected Negatives only in the Data Filter section. This is what your report will look like once you’ve applied the filter:
Only the negative values in the report are highlighted by parallel lines once the filter is applied. For example, the numeric value for (Loss) income before other income (expense) is one of the negative data values highlighted.
Tags Filter Option
The tags filter allows you to select between Standard (US GAAP) and Custom (Company-specific extension) tags or both. The number of facts will change depending on the filter and the viewer will highlight those tags that meet the filter criteria.
In the example above, the viewer highlights the numerical value for Current maturities of operating lease liabilities and related parties since it’s a custom tag.
More Filters Option
This menu item comes with a comprehensive set of options which includes:
- Periods
- Measures
- Axis
- Members
- Scale
- Balance
Let’s say you click on the Scale filter and select ‘millions’ to check whether all values that are stated on this scale are accurate, your report will appear like this:
As you will notice, the viewer only highlights all the numeric values that are mentioned on the scale of millions in the report. These values are interactive and you can click on each individual value and check their attributes.
Section Tab
You can also use the Sections tab to filter your entire report. There is a search bar specifically for the Section tab that allows you to filter the document to specific sections like Document Entity Information, Financial Statements, and Notes to the Financials.
The SEC is not the only provider of an iXBRL viewer. Your SSP will also have an iXBRL viewer as part of their own product offering. The need for previewing your documents cannot be emphasized enough. So, whether you choose to use the SEC’s previewer or your SSP’s previewer, make sure, the document has been thoroughly reviewed. This version of your report will be the report that is viewed not just by the SEC, but possibly by investors as well. It’s an essential part of your investment pitch and this makes it all the more important for you to present it well. An iXBRL report is also more intuitive and interactive than a regular report, because of its easy searchability, so you can be sure that a well-created iXBRL report will be much appreciated by all of your stakeholders.
We hope our iXBRL tagging guidelines series has been helpful with your SEC filings.
