Risk Consulting
Crowe XBRL Assurance Services
Reducing Risks After Expiry of Litigation Relief
The use of eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) is mandatory
for registrants filing a Form 10-K or Form 10-Q with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC). Filers may not realize the extent of errors and
omissions, poorly mapped or tagged facts, and inappropriate extensions
resulting from differences in coding. Litigation relief is expiring, and the risk of
a forced restatement is a real concern for many publicly held companies.
A Very Real Threat
Companies must confirm their XBRL
filings are clean, accurate, complete,
and – most important – fully compliant
with SEC requirements or they face the
threat of sanctions and shareholder
suits. Filings may be at risk if:
■■ Inadequate validation
software was used
■■ Internal or outsourced resources
lacked XBRL expertise, or
■■ The audit committee does not have
confidence that the XBRL and HTML
versions contain exactly the same
information
Many filers use external providers to
map and generate their XBRL and
HTML quarterly (10-Q) and annual
(10-K) filings. Others bring the process
in-house and produce the documents
themselves. Information in the XBRL
format will not render the same as the
HTML human-readable format, meaning
that reading the the human-readable
XBRL will not expose the errors.
As the SEC reviews XBRL submissions,
they are telling some filers that their
XBRL is either incomplete or inaccurate,
and are requiring a restated XBRL filing
of the Form 10-Q/A or Form 10-K/A.
Determining Exposure
Failure to gain reassurance that
potential quality or content issues have
been identified and addressed can put
your company at risk, even though the
SEC has not mandated external audit
of the XBRL. The first step to protecting
your organization is to advise audit
committee members of the issues and
the potential implications (which could
include a restatement). The next step is
to speak with all internal or outsourced
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Common XBRL Filing Errors
■■ Printed information does not match
what was filed electronically
■■ Printed information contains
incorrect statements
■■ Additional facts in the XBRL version
are missing in the HTML version (or
vice versa)
■■ Unnecessary extensions
■■ Excessive definition of
extensions, resulting in de
facto additional disclosures
■■ Incorrect selection of
taxonomy elements
■■ Use of noncurrent taxonomy
elements (deprecated)
■■ Incorrectly negated facts
■■ Incorrect dimensions
■■ Calculations that do not calculate
■■ Mismatched labels
■■ Incorrect dates
■■ Mismatched fact types (for example,
percentage-type facts tagged as
ratios or string-type elements)
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providers to confirm independent review
is part of the process for generating
filings. And a final step to consider is
commissioning an independent review
of existing filings to identify exposure
and avoid future misstatements.
Avoiding the Worst-Case Scenario
Crowe Horwath LLP can perform an
independent review of your XBRL filings
to identify potential issues and provide
actionable guidance to resolve risks
that could result in an SEC query or a
request to refile an updated version. Our
specialists use state-of-the-art tools
and processes intended to streamline
the review process and deliver costeffective results within your timetable.
Contact Information
For more information on Crowe risk
services including an XBRL assurance
review, contact:
Daniel Roberts
Director, Crowe Horwath Global Risk
Consulting, London
+44.203.178.6835
daniel.roberts@crowehorwathgrc.net
Rich Kloch
Partner, Crowe Horwath LLP
216.623.7533
rich.kloch@crowehorwath.com
We can perform an AUP (agreed
upon procedures) review, conduct an
internal audit of XBRL and associated
processes, and provide other services
tailored to meet your specific needs.
Our goal is to help you satisfy
management and the audit committee
that the risks associated with your XBRL
filings are under control.
A Crowe XBRL assurance review offers
independent assurance of compliance
supported by our proven expertise in
delivering high-quality results for audit
committees, boards, stakeholders, and
external auditors.
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Crowe Horwath LLP is an independent member of Crowe Horwath International, a Swiss verein. Each member firm of Crowe Horwath International is a separate and independent legal entity.
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