The Key Differences between UK GAAP and FRS 102

The FRS 102, published recently by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is a replacement of the UK GAAP system that is used by enterprises in the UK and Ireland for filing their annual statements to the revenue bodies and regulatory authorities. Followed by the implementation of the accounting standards, the authorities have released the relevant iXBRL taxonomies for corporates to submit their financial statements in iXBRL format.

The FRS 102 is based on the IFRS for SMEs (International Financial Reporting Standards for small-medium enterprises) and the FRS 102 taxonomy is developed in such a way as to reflect the accounting standard. The taxonomy has a number of differences from the incumbent and on-its-way-out UK GAAP taxonomy, most visibly, in the structure of the taxonomy at the highest level. The number of highest order abstract elements is lower in the new FRS 102 and the abstracts themselves are different.

Abstracts such as “Currencies”, “Languages”, “Countries and Regions” have been combined into one abstract element called “Dimensions Content”. This point to a very efficiently designed taxonomy.

There are no considerable changes in the business information and regulatory information sections like “Entity Information”, “Business Report Information”, “Directors’ Report” and “Auditors’ Report”. Those have been retained as is. However there is an addition to this section in the name of “Accountant’s Report”, possibly for the unaudited financials.

There is not much difference in the actual data that needs to be furnished by the companies covered by the taxonomy. This is in contrast with the reduced disclosure framework of FRS 101 (which was published just 4 months before FRS 102) that allows exemptions for some entities from EU-adopted IFRS.

DataTracks UK is one of the earliest providers of iXBRL managed tagging services to receive HMRC recognition for converting financial statements and tax computations to iXBRL format. DataTracks is also the first to be accredited by ICAEW. From accounting firms to group companies to small businesses, DataTracks offers a convenient and secure option to prepare their financial statements into iXBRL format for HMRC filing.

To find out more about DataTracks, or send an email to enquiry@datatracks.co.uk.