USAGE OF XBRL FOR SURVEYS
X-DIS/XBRL project
Madrid, 30th of March 2007
Eurostat Reference: X-DIS/XBRL-Task6-Surveys
Software AG Reference: PHC7CE1/P76-0001/1.02
Created / Updated / Revised / Approved /By: Software AG Team /
By: Giuseppe Sindoni (Eurostat Project Officer)
/ Confidential Document property of Eurostat /
USAGE OF XBRL FOR SURVEYS
Eurostat reference:
X-DIS/ XBRL-Task6-Surveys / Version:
01.02 / Creation date:
30-03-2007 / Page:
30
Software AG Reference:
PHC7CE1/P76-0001
Content Table /
Page /
1. Glossary 3
2. Objectives And Scope of the Document 5
3. From Technical Integration to Process Interoperability 6
4. European Interoperability Framework 9
5. Interoperability Layers 12
6. Layer 1: Technical Interoperability 14
7. Layer 2: Syntactic Interoperability 15
8. Layer 3: Semantic Interoperability 19
9. Layer 4: Organizational Interoperability 22
10. Ontologies vs. Taxonomies 24
11. Discussion 1: Ontologies for Statistical Source Data 28
12. Discussion 2: Push vs Pull Reporting Models 29
13. Conclusions 30
14. References 31
15. Latest Changes 32
1. Glossary
The following table offers a relationship of some frequently used XBRL terms:
Concept / DefinitionXBRL / extensible Business Reporting Language - an XML based framework that provides the financial community with a method to prepare, publish in a variety of formats, extract and exchange financial statements - it is expected to have major implications for all concerned with presentation and analysis of company accounts. Development is led by a Steering Committee of over 100 organisations and corporations including the US Census Bureau. XBRL taxonomies already existed for some specific reporting schemes, such as US GAAP, and are under development for many others, including IAS and several national GAAPs.
XBRL report / It is the XML document compliant with XBRL spec, which contains the values (facts) defined by the taxonomy which it belongs to. Form the technical point of view, it is the XML document that can be validated against the xsd schema.
XBRL Taxonomy / XBRL taxonomies are "vocabularies" or "dictionaries" created by a group in order to exchange financial information.
NSI / National Statistics Institutions refers to the National body in charge for compilation and dissemination of statistical information at a country level. Depending on the country it can include the Statistical Office as well as Central Bank or Ministers as they Legal Framework assigns them competencies.
ESS / European Statistical System – includes NSIs, Member State government departments and agencies engaged in statistical activities, central banks, international bodies active in EU statistics, etc
EU / European Union
EEC / European Economic Community.
NACE / Classification of Economic Activities within the European. Communities", known by the acronym NACE and originally published by Eurostat in 1970. The acronym "NACE" derives from the French title: Nomenclature générale des activités économiques dans les Communautés Européennes.
GL / A book of final entry summarizing all of a company's financial transactions, through offsetting debit and credit accounts. It is usually base don a chart f accounts.
FR / Financial Reporting.
EIF / European Interoperability Framework
GAAP / Generally Accepted Accounting Standards
IFRS / International Financial Reporting Standards
SIA / Semantic Interoperability Asset
/ Confidential Document property of Eurostat /
USAGE OF XBRL FOR SURVEYS
Eurostat reference:
X-DIS/ XBRL-Task6-Surveys / Version:
01.02 / Creation date:
30-03-2007 / Page:
30
Software AG Reference:
PHC7CE1/P76-0001
2. Objectives And Scope of the Document
Within the scope of the XDIS/XBRL project, the feasibility of introducing the XBRL format to collect financial information of enterprises by the NSIs must be analysed. The possibility to extract information from enterprises in XBRL format, as well as the suitable format handling and integration within NSI systems must be demonstrated.
As stated within the Terms of Reference of the Project:
A further issue to investigate is the use of XBRL in surveys. Is it realizable for enterprises not to send their information any more to the NSI, posting data their websites instead? The data would be ‘picked up’ by the NSI via a web search engine with an XBRL-tag as search criterion.
The Acceptance document overviewed the action plan required starting from the current state or arts, plenty of manual processes and paper based questionnaires, to achieve and actual end to end information integration between providing enterprise and consuming NSI. The current document stands where the Acceptance document finishes and, therefore, an actual end to end integration is assumed. We will overview the alternatives arisen once this automation on the reporting chain had being taken place and how it can improve the current data collection processes.
For the sake of simplicity, we will replace the concept “XBRL taxonomy” by taxonomy since discussions focus on the nature of data models itself, rather than the underlying technology. As a consequence, we will not particularise the mentioned issues for XBRL technology. No special considerations are required when applying to XBRL technology.
3. From Technical Integration to Process Interoperability
In order to understand what backends integration represents on the technology evolution panorama it would be helpful to have a look at the traditional OSI of ISO model for communication. This model was defined by ISO Standardization International Body to state the different layers on the inter-computer communication process for telecommunications.
As depicted, a stack of layers sit on each other. Each layer offers a functionality to the layers above and uses the functionalities of the layers below. It ranges from the physical communication channel, with provides physical connectivity, to the application layer with provides exchange of data for human purposes. In the middle different layers are focused in guaranteeing the different issues required in the communication, as error control, session maintenance or presentation aspects.
Computers enjoy at both sides of the communication the same stack the functionalities with the feature that each layer communicates with the counterpart layer of the other side. This abstract model has been after further extended for TCP/IP connections to provide real protocols.
We will not get deeper in the model but it serves as basis to set the issue discussed in the current document. For further information on the OSI of ISO abstract model, please visit suitable reference.
Currently the state of arts has achieved from time ago the top of the stack and computers are fully able to communicate at the application layer. This achievement has been attained step by step aligned with the technology evolution. However, it let us understand these successive achievements have been a product of technology evolution.
For the scope considered in this document, we can consider that we will be discussing what is happening at the application layer and how it can be broken down and extended. On the other hand, what was represented by computers in the OSI of ISO model, now has been disaggregated as computing systems at both sides, no matter if they are represented by one or several physical machines.
At the application layer, software programs exchange business information. Another evolution process is currently taking place. It is the standardization of business process. The fact is that, at the application layer, computing systems are able to exchange information to feed application software.
Supposing that this information semantically represents accounting information we can figure out a similar model for evolution of information between computing systems. A similar process to this occurred with technology in the OSI model and it is currently taking place with business.
This homologous model is represented by another stack of layers:
· The Data Layer represents exchange of unstructured information between both parties, e.g. pdf or word files. This communication is reduced to an end to end dialogue. However, the information delivered from client side and received at server side is not structured. This makes impossible that server side software can parse and process the incoming information. Therefore, manual processes must be performed in order to provide further processing to the received information.
· The Metadata Layer overcomes the previous scenario since the transmitted information is structured. The information is marked with tags, or by position so an agreement between sender and receiver enables that both can understand and process the transmitted information. Receiving software is able to inspect, parse the messages, locate and extract the required information and trigger ad-hoc processes accordingly. The adventment of structured information overcomes the necessity of manual processes taking place. However, inherent processes though they can be automated, they must be customized ad-hoc for each party and exchanged information model is agreed between both parties.
· The Meta-accounting Layer intends to standardize both the exchanged information to allow more stakeholders in the market and the implied processes at both sides of the communication. It is referred to a well defined business domain and implied processes meaningful for machines. These two new standardizations, information and processes, enable that information systems can be connected to other information systems at both sides, getting a process choreography/orchestration. At the state of arts of financial world both requisites must be defined, and for the moment only proofs of concept are available. However, in other areas as the supply chain, this double standardization is working from time ago. Definition skills are closer to the engineers that to accountants since accountants make usage of information differently of computers as they give priority to business issues and necessities and a well defined model does bias the important data but the values that it does take.
· The Accounting Layer is the traditional usage of this business model to obtain financial information and conclusions by accountants.
4. European Interoperability Framework
We think the arguments discussed in the previous section, and surely in all the scope of the XDIS/XBRL project, deserve to be considered in the context of the works already done by European Union in the field of European Interoperability Framework. Our vision is that, the scope of this project fits as a particularisation of EIF for the Financial Reporting area. Therefore, in this context, the way to go forward should keep the overall guidelines described in the context of the EIF. Understanding the overall panorama will be the easiest way to give response to the problem statement.
In June 2002, European heads of state adopted the eEurope Action Plan 2005 at the Seville summit. It calls on the European Commission “to issue an agreed interoperability framework to support the delivery of pan-European eGovernment services to citizens and enterprises”. This framework would address information content and recommend technical policies and specifications to help connect public administration information systems across the EU. The Action Plan also stipulated that the Framework would “be based on open standards and encourage the use of open source software”.
An interoperability framework can be defined as a set of standards and guidelines that describes the way in which organisations have agreed, or should agree, to interact with each other. The European Interoperability Framework defines a set of recommendations and guidelines for eGovernment services so that public administrations, enterprises and citizens can interact across borders, in a pan-European context. The considerations and recommendations of the European Interoperability Framework are based on the following principles:
· Accessibility.
· Multilingualism.
· Security.
· Privacy - Personal data protection.
· Subsidiarity.
· Use open standards.
· Assess the benefits of open source software.
· Use of multilateral solutions.
The following three interaction types that cover most of the current trans-border e-Government services have been defined:
· Direct interaction between citizens or enterprises of one particular Member State with administrations of other Member States and/or European institutions.
· The exchange of data between administrations of different Member States in order to resolve cases that citizens or enterprises may raise with the administration of their own country.
· The exchange of data between various EU Institutions/Agencies or between an EU Institution/Agency and one or more administrations of Member States.
The scope of the XDIS/XBRL project fits within the exchange of financial reporting information between businesses and National Administrations which, as depicted in the figure above is one of the areas covered by the EIF.
Member States have agreed on a common list of twenty public services (12 for citizens and 8 for enterprises) for which the online sophistication is being benchmarked at national level. The areas commented are described below. As depicted, the fifth area of interest for businesses is intended for collecting statistical information and seems to be aligned with the XDIS/XBRL project objectives.
Service Beneficiary / Public Service OfferedCitizen / 1. Income taxes: declaration notification of assessment
2. Job search services by labour offices
3. Social Security Contributions
4. Personal documents (passport and driving licence)
5. Car registration (new, used and imported cars)
6. Application of Building permissions
7. Declarations to the police (e.g. in case of theft)
8. Public Libraries (availability of catalogues, search tools)
9. Certificates (birth, marriage): request and delivery
10. Enrolment in higher education / university
11. Announcement of moving (change of address)
12. Health related services
Businesses / 1. Social contribution for employees
2. Corporation tax: declaration, notification
3. VAT: declaration notification
4. Registration of a new company
5. Submission of data to statistical offices
6. Custom declarations
7. Environmental related permits (including reporting)
8. Public procurement
5. Interoperability Layers
Within the context of the EIF, interoperability is analysed from 4 different angles: