XBRL Adoption in Singapore
[Mr Ivan Koo]
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Agenda
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About ACRA and BizFile
Corporate Financial Reporting Process in Singapore
Why XBRL for ACRA?
Project Implementation
ACRA Taxonomy
About FS Manager
Filing Requirement in XBRL
Learning Points and Future Issues
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About ACRA
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ACRA is the national regulator of businesses
and public accountants in Singapore
Formed on 1 April 2004, following the merger
of the former Registry of Companies and
Businesses and the Public Accountants Board
Our mission is to provide a responsive and
trusted regulatory environment for businesses
and public accountant
Administers the repository of information and
documents on registered entities
As at 31 March 2008, over 327,400 business
entities and more than 820 public accountants
have registered with ACRA
Our website: www.acra.gov.sg
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About
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E-registration/filing and
information retrieval system
Launched in January 2002
Registration of Companies under
30 minutes
Over 280 e-transactions
Average of 3,000 e-transactions
daily
Pre-XBRL: Financial Statements
filed via PDF copy with Annual
Return of Companies
Financial data extracted
manually
Website: www.bizfile.gov.sg
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Corporate Financial Reporting
Process in Singapore
Responsible for the
preparation and filing
of the accounts
Accounts or
Financial
Statements
Audits the accounts
Auditor
Directors
Complies with the
Accounting
Standards and
gives a true &
fair view
Accounts
Prepared & Filed
Using
FS Manager
Promotes access to
financial information
Shareholders
Information flow
Other Users
of Accounts
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Why XBRL for ACRA?
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XBRL will benefit the business community - Improving access to
data of Singapore companies
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Unlocking new value from financial information filed with ACRA
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Facilitate a “one-stop” portal for businesses moving forward
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Strengthens our regulatory vigilance - A trusted business hub
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Project Implementation:
Pre-Project Milestone
Recommendation by
2003
2004
Specification Study Tender Awarded to
Ecquaria
and Tender
Technologies
2005
XBRL Feasibility Study Conducted by
2006
XBRL Steering
Committee
Established
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Project Implementation:
Project Milestone
F
Requirement Gathering
and Development
FS Manager
Launch
FS Manager
Final Version
I
N
Taxonomy Draft
Version
Feb 06
Aug 06
Taxonomy Final
Version
May 07
Aug 07
Nov 07
A
L
L
A
U
Feedback
N
C
Testing
H
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Project Implementation:
Public Engagement
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1st Public Announcement - Mar 2006 by Minister
1st XBRL Public Awareness Seminar held on 30 Nov 2006
1st Guidelines Issued on 30 Apr 2007
11 Public Seminars with our Professional Associations with
over 3,300 participants
Press Announcement on 1st Nov 2007 Compulsory Filings
in May 07
Letters Sent to Directors on XBRL Implementation in
Singapore
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Project Implementation:
Public Engagement
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Training Sessions on FS Manager and XBRL held since
Aug 07 to date: Over 100 Classes
Focused Group Discussions between ACRA and
Companies
ACRA XBRL Helpdesk Established since May 07
Engagement between ACRA and the professional bodies in
Singapore on XBRL
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ACRA Taxonomy
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Designed to comply with the requirements of the Singapore Financial
Reporting Standards (which is closely aligned with the IFRS) and the
Singapore Companies Act
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Captures more than 500 data elements
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Authored by Mr Thomas Egan, a member of the IASCF XBRL Quality
Review Team with inputs from the various professional bodies and
accounting firms in Singapore and developed using UBMATRIX
XBRL Taxonomy Designer
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A PDF copy of the ACRA taxonomy is available under the “Illustrative
Financial Statements” section of:
http://www.acra.gov.sg/Services/Company/Filing_of_Financial_Statem
ent_in_XBRL.htm
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ACRA Taxonomy
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Designed based on the premise that:
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no company should extend the taxonomy; and
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industry specific data should be in the single taxonomy if important
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Self-extending taxonomy concept that allows for:
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core data that is common to most entities and of interest to most
users to be captured specifically; and
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other data to be captured under a flexible classification that will
allow for efficient manual extraction
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The self-extending taxonomy concept utilises a simple user-described
tuple structure to capture in a single element the exact description used
by the company in its financial statements as well as that specific value
associated with it
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ACRA Taxonomy
- Illustration of the Income Statement
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Captures core data and user-described data
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About FS Manager
is a free online tool provided by
ACRA as part of Bizfile to help
companies prepare and manage
Financial Statements in XBRL
format.
It saves data on your own hard disk
as XBRL files (editable) and allows
you to create readable PDF (not
editable) files for printing and viewing
© Copyright Ecquaria Technologies Pte Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
It is an online tool
so you’ll need to
connect to the
Internet to access
FS Manager
If your accounting software/
ERP systems can export
your financial statements
in XBRL format using
ACRA taxonomy, you can
use FS Manager to open
these files before AR Filing
It allows you to enter
your financial
statements in a
format required by
ACRA for the
purpose of Annual
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Return filings
FS Manager
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Usage of FS Manager:
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Guided and template based online data entry
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Option to save financial statements in PDF for record
purposes or filing with other regulators e.g. Inland
Revenue Authority of Singapore and the Monetary
Authority of Singapore
Value Proposition to Companies:
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Free Online tool to prepare their financial statements
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Creation of an XBRL (instance) file without knowing
what is XBRL
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FS Manager
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One can assess FS Manager from the ACRA Homepage.
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Using FS Manager to
Prepare Financial Statements
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FS Manager designed to be used as a Financial Statements preparation
tool for Singapore companies
ACRA FS
Manager
Data Entry
XBRL
Importing from
accounting systems
XBRL
PDF
Save as XBRL
Save as PDF
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© Copyright Ecquaria Technologies Pte Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Using FS Manager to
File Annual Return
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FS Manager also facilitates the uploading to BizFile and validation of
XBRL Financial Statements
ACRA
BizFile
XBRL
XBRL
ACRA FS
Manager
© Copyright Ecquaria Technologies Pte Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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FS Manager
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FS Manager
- Features
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FS Manager User Guide
Guided and template based online data
entry
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Available Help Resources
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FS Manager
XBRL File
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Option to save as a XBRL file
or a PDF copy
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PDF Copy
Filing Requirement in XBRL
Scope of XBRL Filing of Financial Statements: Unlimited and Limited
By Shares Companies
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Excluded Categories
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Banks, insurance companies and finance companies whose
activities are regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore
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Companies using accounting standards other than Singapore
Financial Reporting Standards or International Financial Reporting
Standards
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Filing Requirement in XBRL
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Financial Periods Affected
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Filing of AR on or after 1 November 2007 and the financial period
concerned ends on or after 30 April 2007
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Giving More Time if filing in full XBRL
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1 Month waiver of penalties for Late Annual General Meeting
(AGM) or Late Filing
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Not applicable to public listed companies
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Filing Requirement in XBRL
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Two Filing Options
Option A: Full XBRL
(FS Manager is used to prepare
financial statements presented at
company’s AGM. Optional to
submit PDF copy of financial
statements presented at company’s
AGM)
2,804 filings as of 30 Apr 2008
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Option B: Partial XBRL (Balance
Sheet + Income Statement +
Mandatory Information Only in
XBRL format) + PDF copy of
financial statements presented at
company’s AGM
5,458 filings as of 30 Apr 2008
More than 50,000 companies are expected to file their accounts in
XBRL format
For more information, please refer to ACRA Practice Directions 2 and
5 of 2007 available at:
http://www.acra.gov.sg/Publications/Practice_Directions.htm
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Learning Points
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Active feedback from all affected stakeholders is critical
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Importance of giving ample time for change
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Clear communication of requirements to stakeholders
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Involve the professional bodies and accounting firms early
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Provision of adequate help resources (i.e. XBRL helpdesk, FAQ etc.)
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Extensive information should be provided online
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Continuous testing and re-testing
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Information Services Moving Data to Businesses
Sale of
information
via webservices
FS Manager
XBRL
Accounting
systems
Distribution
of data via
BizHub or
other channels
New XBRL
products
Public,
shareholders,
investors,
creditors, etc.
Govt agencies
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Future Issues
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Revision of current ACRA Taxonomy in the 3rd quarter of 2008 for
latest accounting standards changes - Public consultation expected
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Rendering of PDF financial statements - To allow for more flexibility?
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Whether to extend Partial XBRL filing option
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Move towards a single business taxonomy for the One-Stop Filing
Portal in Singapore - Inter-agency collaboration
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External assurance is a key concern on moving forward in XBRL
adoption in Singapore
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Future Issues
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Getting more software vendors onboard and more XBRL tools
available in the local market to enable an “integrated” approach to
prepare XBRL financial statements and other regulatory returns
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Future maintenance and enhancements to FS Manager
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Review of 1st set of corporate financial statements in XBRL format
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Thank You
Further details available at:
http://www.acra.gov.sg
Email: ivan_koo@acra.gov.sg
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