BRIEF NOTE
ON
XBRL FILING
Balakrishna & Co
Chartered Accountants
# 24, ‘Comfort Tower’, 10th Cross, Wilson Garden,
Bangalore – 560 027
Contact Person: CA Prakash S V
Email: contact@balakrishnaandco.com
www.balakrishnaandco.com
Phone: +91 9448080886
XBRL FILING
1. What is XBRL?
XBRL or the eXtensible Business Reporting Language is a language for the electronic communication of
business and financial data. It provides a common electronic format for business reporting and can make
the process of creating, distributing, reporting and analyzing the information more efficiently and
effectively. Using XBRL would make it possible to store financial information in a computer readable format.
2. How does XBRL work?
XBRL makes the data readable, with the help of two documents – Taxonomy and Instance Document.
Taxonomy can be referred as an electronic dictionary of the reporting concepts. Taxonomy consists of
all the data definitions, the basic XBRL properties and the interrelationships amongst the concepts. It
includes terms such as net income, EPS, cash, etc. Each term has specific attributes that help define it.
Using the taxonomy prescribed by the regulators, companies need to map their reports, and generate a
valid XBRL Instance Document. The process of mapping means matching the concepts as reported by the
company to the corresponding element in the taxonomy. In addition to assigning XBRL tag from taxonomy,
information like unit of measurement, period of data, scale of reporting etc., needs to be included in
the instance document.
Taxonomies are based on the regulatory requirements and standards which are to be followed by the
companies. Accordingly, depending on the requirements of every country, there can be country-specific
taxonomies.
In India, the taxonomy has been developed by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), based on the
requirements of:
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Schedule VI of Companies Act;
The Accounting Standards; and
SEBI Listing requirements.
3. Who is required to file XBRL Financial Statements in India
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India, vide its General Circular No. 37/2011, dated June
07, 2011 has required the following class of companies (except banking companies, insurance
companies, power companies and the Non Banking Financial Companies) to file the financial statements in
XBRL form only from the year 2010 – 2011:.
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
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All companies listed in India and their Indian subsidiaries
All companies having a paid up capital of Rs 5 crore and above; and
All companies having a turnover of Rs 100 crore and above.
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XBRL FILING
4. Can company voluntarily file financial statements in XBRI mode for the
year 2010-11
Yes encouraged, such a company need not file the Financial Statements in PDF Format
5. Whether MCA provide XBRL Software?
XBRL Instance Document Creation Software has to be purchased from the software vendors in the market.
This software is used to create XBRL instance documents that would be uploaded on the MCA portal.
MCA21 system will provide a facility for validation of the instance document and filing of the same. MCA is
not recommending any specific XBRL software.
6. Who will certify the XBRL filing?
The certification of XBRL filing would be done by the professional as before. The professional may use XBRL
viewer tool to satisfy himself about the authenticity of XBRL document as per the audited financial
statements.
7. What are the steps involved in filing financial Statements in XBRL on
MCA Portal?
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
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
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Obtaining audited financial statements. These audited financial statements would preferably be in
Excel and/ or Word format.
Preparation of the source document based on the audited financial statement for XBRL conversion.
Mapping the source document to the Target Taxonomy as mandated by MCA.
Validating the mapped document to create instance document.
Creating XBRL instance document
Validating XBRL Instance Document using XBRL Validation Tool provided by MCA
Eliminating errors arising out of validation based on error logs.
Pre-scrutiny of the instance document
Convert to pdf and verify the contents of the instance document
Attach instance document to the Form 23AC-XBRL and Form 23ACA-XBRL
Submitting the Form 23AC-XBRL and Form 23ACAXBRL on the MCA portal
Separate instance documents need to be created for the following:
(i) Stand Alone Balance sheet of the company
(ii) Stand Alone Profit and Loss Account of the company
(iii) Consolidated Balance sheet of the company
(iv) Consolidated Profit and Loss Account of the company
The instance document should contain the financial information for both the current as well as the
previous financial year.
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XBRL FILING
8. Detailed steps involved in creating financial Statement in XBRL
i.
Map Company’s each financial statement element to a corresponding element
in published taxonomy
Companies have the option to create their own XBRL documents in house or to engage a third party to
convert their financial statements into XBRL form. The first step in creation of an instance document is to do
tagging of the XBRL taxonomy elements with the various accounting heads in the books of accounts of the
company. This would create the mapping of the taxonomy elements with the accounting heads so that the
accounting information can be converted into XBRL form. Selecting the appropriate elements for some
financial statement elements may require a significant amount of judgment. The mapping should be reviewed
before proceeding further as the complete reporting would be dependent on the mapping.
In case any information is present in the financial statements for which corresponding tag/element is not
available in the taxonomy, then the same needs to be captured in the next-best-fit element in the taxonomy
or should be included under the corresponding ‘Others’ element. Further, it is imperative to include footnote
w.r.t. the same while preparing the instance document.
ii.
Create instance document for Balance sheet and Profit and Loss Account
Once the tagging of financial statement elements with the published taxonomy elements is done, the next
step is to create the instance document. An instance document is a XML file that contains business
reporting information and represents a collection of financial facts and report-specific information
using tags from the XBRL taxonomy.
iii.
Download MCA XBRL validation tool from MCA portal
A tool has been provided on the MCA XBRL portal for validating the generated XBRL instance document.
Validating the instance document is a pre requisite before filing the balance sheet and profit & loss account
on MCA portal. You are required to download the tool from the portal and validate the instance document
before uploading the same. The MCA XBRL validation tool can be downloaded from the XBRL website of the
Ministry
iv.
Use the tool to validate the instance document
The next step is to validate the instance document using validation tool provided by MCA. The following
validations shall be performed by the tool Validating that the instance document is as per the latest and correct version of taxonomy
prescribed by MCA
 All mandatory elements have been entered
 Other business rules as specified by MCA
 Other validations as per taxonomy
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XBRL FILING
v.
Perform pre-scrutiny of the validated instance document through the tool
Once the instance document is successfully validated from the tool, the next step is to pre-scrutinise the
validated instance document with the help of the same tool. For pre-scrutinizing the instance document, a
working internet connection shall be required. In the Pre-scrutiny, the server side validations (i.e.
validations which are to be validated from the MCA21 system) shall be performed.
vi.
Final verification post pre-scrutiny of the document
Once the instance document has been successfully pre-scrutinized, the next step is to generate pdf by
using ‘Export to pdf’ functionality in the tool to verify the final instance document. It is imperative that the
company and the professional certifying the instance documents should use this feature to verify the
accuracy of the instance document.
vii.
Attach instance document to the Form 23AC-XBRL and Form 23ACA-XBRL
There shall be a separate set of Form 23AC-XBRL and Form 23ACA-XBRL available on the MCA portal for
filing in XBRL form. First fill up the Form 23AC-XBRL and Form 23ACA-XBRL. Thereafter, attach the
validated and pre-scrutinised instance document for Balance sheet to Form 23AC-XBRL. Similarly, the
instance document for Profit and Loss account is to be attached to Form 23ACA-XBRL. Separate instance
documents need to be attached w.r.t. Standalone financial statements and consolidated financial
statements.
viii.
Submitting the Form 23AC-XBRL and Form 23ACA- XBRL on the MCA portal
After the forms are filled, you are required to perform pre-scrutiny of the form, sign the form and then
upload the same as per the normal eForm filing process. It shall be validated that the attached instance
documents are validated and pre-scrutinised from the XBRL validation tool.
ix.
Viewing of balance sheet and profit and loss submitted in XBRL form on MCA portal
The XBRL instance documents submitted along with Form 23AC-XBRL and 23ACA-XBRL are in machine
readable format. Therefore, for viewing the same in a human readable format, these shall be converted
into human readable format by the MCA21 system. For viewing the same on MCA portal and for taking
certified copies of the same, these converted documents shall be made available.
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XBRL FILING
Illustrative Engagement Letter:
(Letterhead of the practitioner)
To the Board of Directors of ………….
You have requested that we convert the audited financial statements of ………………… Company Limited,
which comprise the Balance Sheet as at March 31, 2011, and the Statement of Profit & Loss, and Cash
Flow Statement for the year then ended, and a summary of significant accounting policies and other
explanatory information to XBRL mode financial statements and also certify that these XBRL financial
statements fairly present in all material respects, the audited financial statements of the company for
the year ended March 31, 2011, in accordance with the taxonomy specified by the Ministry of
Corporate Affairs for filing of the financial statements in the XBRL mode.
We are pleased to confirm our acceptance and our understanding of this certification engagement by
means of this letter.
Our engagement will be conducted on the basis that the management acknowledges and understands
that they have responsibility:
(a) For the preparation of XBRL financial statements in accordance with the taxonomy prescribed by the
Ministry of Corporate Affairs. This includes:
 Ensuring Completeness, Accuracy, Mapping and Structure of these XBRL financial statements.
 Ensuring existence and operation of appropriate controls over the process of conversion of audited
financial statements to XBRL financial statements.
(b) To provide us with:
1. Audited financial statements of ……………….Company Limited, viz.
 Audited Balance Sheet of …………………….. Company Limited for the year ended March 31,
2011 preferably in MS Excel format;
 Audited Profit and Loss Account of ………………… Company Limited for the year ended
March 31, 2011 preferably in MS Excel Format;
 Audited Cash Flow Statement of ………………… Company Limited for the year ended March
31, 2011 preferably in MS Excel Format;
 Statement of Significant Accounting Policies and Notes to Accounts of …………………
Company Limited for the year ended March 31, 2011 preferably in MS Word format;
 Audit report of ………………… Company Limited for the year ended March 31, 2011;
 Director’s Report of ………………… Company Limited for the year ended March 31, 2011; and
 A copy of the Annual Report of ………………… Company Limited for the year ended 31
March, 2011
(ii) Access, at all times, to all information, including the books, account, vouchers and other records and
documentation, of the Company, whether kept at the head office of the company or elsewhere, of which
[management] is aware that is relevant to the certification of XBRL mode financial statements;
(iii) Additional information that we may request from [management] for the purpose of the
certification; and
(iv) Unrestricted access to persons within the entity from whom we determine it necessary to obtain
evidence. This includes our entitlement to require from the officers of the Company such information and
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XBRL FILING
explanations as we may think necessary for the performance the certification engagement.
We will conduct our certification in accordance with the Guidance Note on Certification of XBRL Financial
Statements, issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). As part of our engagement,
we will request from [management and, where appropriate, those charged with governance],
written confirmation concerning representations made to us in connection with the certification.
We look forward to full cooperation from your staff during our certification engagement. [Insert other
information, such as fee arrangements, billings7 and other specific terms, as appropriate.]
Our certification does not constitute an audit conducted in accordance with the Standards on Audit issued
by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Accordingly, we will not express an opinion on the truth
and fairness of the XBRL financial statements. Accordingly, as a part of our engagement we will also not
perform procedures to verify the completeness and accuracy of the information provided by the
management or such procedures as would enable us to express an opinion on the effectiveness of the
design, implementation and monitoring of controls by the management over the preparation of XBRL
financial statements. We will, however, bring to your attention any material errors in these XBRL financial
statements of which we become aware during our certification process.
Upon completion of our engagement, we will provide you with the XBRL mode a certification on XBRL
financial statements referred to above. A draft of the certificate is attached for your reference. The form
and content of our certificate may need to be amended in the light of our findings. Please sign and return
the attached copy of this letter to indicate your acknowledgement of, and agreement with, the
arrangements for our certification of the XBRL financial statements including our respective
responsibilities.
XYZ & Co.
Chartered Accountants
…………………………
(Signature)
7 For example, “Our fees will be billed as the work progresses”.
Date : (Name of the Member) Place : (Designation8)
Acknowledged on behalf of Company by
…………………………….
(Signature)
Name and Designation
Date
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XBRL FILING
Illustrative Management Representation Letter:
M/s ……………………….
Chartered Accountants
We are providing this letter in connection with your engagement to convert the audited financial statements of
…………………. (the “Company”) as of March 31, 20XX, and related financial statement schedules(s) to XBRL financial
statements for being furnished by the Company to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (“MCA”) vide their General
Circular No. 43/2011 dated July 07, 2011 and also certification of aforementioned XBRL financial statements,
prepared from the audited financial statements for the aforesaid period. The term “XBRL-tagged data” in this letter
refers to the Company’s XBRL instance document, and the related taxonomy extension schema, label linkbase,
calculation linkbase, presentation linkbase, and definition linkbase documents, all of which were provided to
you on [specify date documents were provided or file names with date(s)].
We confirm that we are responsible for:
a.
The XBRL-tagged data relating to above mentioned financial statements [and related financial statement
schedule(s)]; the completeness, accuracy, and consistency of our XBRL-tagged data; and the related assertions;
b.
Identifying the applicable XBRL-tagged data filing requirements, determining that the substance of the
XBRLtagged data satisfies the regulatory requirements and filing the XBRL-tagged data in a form and manner
that satisfies any regulatory or other requirements of the MCA to which the XBRL-tagged data is to be
submitted;
c.
The design, implementation, effectiveness, and monitoring of controls over the preparation and tagging of the
Company’s financial statement data and over the submission of the XBRL-tagged data to the MCA;
d.
Evaluating and monitoring the completeness, accuracy, and consistency of our XBRL-tagged data, including the
work performed by any third parties in assisting us with the preparation of our XBRL-tagged data; and
e. Complying with all applicable laws and regulations.
We confirm, to the best of our knowledge and belief, the following representations made to you during your
Assistance in XBRL filing engagement:
1. All known matters related to the XBRL-tagged data relating to our financial statements or the related assertions
have been disclosed to you.
2. We have made available to you all:
a. Financial records and related data
b. Documentation relevant to the preparation of the XBRL files, such as [specify documents, e.g., information
provided to a third party, tagging worksheets]
c. Output of all validation reports.
3. There have been no communications from regulatory agencies affecting the XBRL-tagged data relating to our
financial statements referred to above [except for [insert appropriate description]].
4. We have no knowledge of any fraud or suspected fraud affecting the entity’s XBRL-tagged data.
5. We have no knowledge of any significant matters contrary to your findings [except for [insert appropriate
description]].
6. [Insert any specific representations appropriate for this engagement].
(Name of Chief Executive Officer and Title) (Name of Chief Financial Officer and Title)
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XBRL FILING
Illustrative Format of Certificate on XBRL FinanciaL Statements
To The Board of Directors of ……………… Company Limited
We have examined the attached Balance Sheet of ……………. Company Limited (“the Company”) as at
March 31, 2011, and the Profit and Loss Account and the Cash Flow Statement of the Company (“the
Financial Statements) for the year ended on that date, both annexed thereto, prepared by the Company
in the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) mode (“the XBRL financial statements”). These
XBRL financial statements have been prepared on the basis of the audited financial statements of the
Company for the year ended March 31, 2011, on which we/ M/s…….. Chartered Accountants
(whichever is applicable) have expressed an opinion vide our/ their (whichever is applicable) Audit Report
dated
, 2011.
The Management of the Company is responsible for the preparation of the XBRL financial
statements in accordance with the taxonomy specified by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs for filing of
the financial statements in the XBRL mode. Our responsibility is to certify the XBRL financial
statements based on our examination, which was conducted in accordance with the Guidance Note on
Certification of XBRL Financial Statements issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
Based on our aforesaid examination and to the best of our knowledge
and
belief and
according
to
the
information, explanations and representations given to us by the
management of the Company, we certify that these XBRL financial statements fairly present, in all material
respects, the aforementioned audited financial statements of the Company for the year ended March 31,
2011, in accordance with the taxonomy specified by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs for filing of the
financial statements in the XBRL mode.
This Certificate is intended solely for your information and for purposes of filing of the Company’s financial
statements in the XBRL mode in accordance with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ General Circular No.
43/2011 dated 7thJuly, 2011 and is not to be used, referred to or distributed for any other purpose without
our prior written consent.
For ………………………… Chartered
Accountants
(Firm Registration No.
)
………………………………… (Name of the
member) Designation
(Membership No.
)
Place:
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