How to be XBRL-ready? Are you prepared?
You are probably already aware of FERC’s mandate to submit certain forms in XBRL format. Microsoft® is not going to be providing support for Visual FoxPro, and reporting companies will need to start filing in XBRL format further to instruction from FERC. Presenting your company’s compliance reports in XBRL can ensure accuracy in the numbers and efficient data analysis. And that’s great! However, what organizational changes will you have to make to prepare for the transition? What should your strategy be? Where can you get more information and updates?
Don’t fret and break a sweat! In this blog, we walk you through the basics of all you need to do or know to be ready for your filing with FERC in Q4 2021.
All you need to know to be XBRL Ready:
Start planning your strategy
- The first aspect of your strategy you will need to consider is Time. FERC expects reports in XBRL format by Q4 2021. Being your first-time filing in XBRL, you may want to consider accommodating more time to learning and execution. If you’d like help with strategy planning, ask to talk to our XBRL experts.
- Resourcing is next. You may want to consider building an XBRL tool in-house. It requires hiring specialized technical resources. Besides, will there be sufficient time to hire, build, test, and commission it with the remote working format? Probably not.
- Your next best solution? To invest in a robust, secure, cloud-based platform that can do the XBRL conversion for your company. All you will need is a team of reliable preparers and accounting personnel who know their way around compliance reporting, reading, and tagging taxonomy. Cost-effective in the long-term, Glacier can adapt to your current reporting processes with ease, making your year-on-year reporting process efficient. With pre-determined templates, multiple staff-hours in learning XBRL domain and tagging with taxonomies would reduce significantly. Changes made in the FERC taxonomy will be updated automatically, and its self-intuitive work-flow allows for real-time collaboration by personnel working remotely.
A reliable XBRL software and service provider is key to your process and strategy. Ensure that you do your research, and finalize on your provider ahead of time, so that your transition to XBRL is seamless.
Decide on the process
Are you going to have one core team doing all the data collection, assembly, approvals, and sign-off, or are you going to divide responsibilities across the board? An application that allows connected, collaborative functioning like Glacier, empowering a subject matter expert to key-in data directly, may help eliminate duplicate work by the reporting team. And since the application is on the cloud, multiple personnel can enter data simultaneously, making the process even more efficient.
Finally, just a converted XBRL file does not mean it is submitted successfully. Your platform should be able to validate the information entered, provide a granular audit trail, trace back to templates from validation screen and even go as far as filing your report with the FERC, as Glacier does.
Feel like you need more guidance on transitioning effectively? Our team of XBRL experts can help you navigate through this change. Schedule a discussion here.
Want more information about Glacier and how it can be that one missing piece of your XBRL puzzle? Schedule a free demo with enquiry@datatracks.com here.
DataTracks offers multiple other solutions that can automate, streamline, and manage your compliance reporting processes. Click here to explore our products, learn more about us and what we do.