XBRL Adoption in Singapore Mr Ivan Koo 1
XBRL Adoption in Singapore [Mr Ivan Koo] 1
Agenda n n n n About ACRA and Biz. File 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 2
About ACRA n n n 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 3
About n n n n 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 4
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 5
Why XBRL for ACRA? n XBRL will benefit the business community - Improving access to data of Singapore companies n Unlocking new value from financial information filed with ACRA n Facilitate a “one-stop” portal for businesses moving forward n Strengthens our regulatory vigilance - A trusted business hub 6
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 7
Project Implementation: Project Milestone Requirement Gathering and Development F FS Manager Launch Taxonomy Draft Version Feb 06 Aug 06 May 07 FS Manager Final Version I Taxonomy Final Version A Aug 07 Nov 07 N L L A U Feedback Testing N C H 8
Project Implementation: Public Engagement n n n 1 st Public Announcement - Mar 2006 by Minister 1 st XBRL Public Awareness Seminar held on 30 Nov 2006 1 st Guidelines Issued on 30 Apr 2007 11 Public Seminars with our Professional Associations with over 3, 300 participants Press Announcement on 1 st Nov 2007 Compulsory Filings in May 07 Letters Sent to Directors on XBRL Implementation in Singapore 9
Project Implementation: Public Engagement n n 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 10
ACRA Taxonomy n Designed to comply with the requirements of the Singapore Financial Reporting Standards (which is closely aligned with the IFRS) and the Singapore Companies Act n Captures more than 500 data elements n 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 n 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 11 ent_in_XBRL. htm
ACRA Taxonomy n Designed based on the premise that: n no company should extend the taxonomy; and n industry specific data should be in the single taxonomy if important n Self-extending taxonomy concept that allows for: n core data that is common to most entities and of interest to most users to be captured specifically; and n other data to be captured under a flexible classification that will allow for efficient manual extraction n 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 12
ACRA Taxonomy - Illustration of the Income Statement n Captures core data and user-described data 13
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 14 Return filings
FS Manager n n Usage of FS Manager: n Guided and template based online data entry n 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: n Free Online tool to prepare their financial statements n Creation of an XBRL (instance) file without knowing what is XBRL 15
FS Manager n One can assess FS Manager from the ACRA Homepage. 16
Using FS Manager to Prepare Financial Statements n 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 17 © Copyright Ecquaria Technologies Pte Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Using FS Manager to File Annual Return n FS Manager also facilitates the uploading to Biz. File and validation of XBRL Financial Statements ACRA Biz. File XBRL ACRA FS Manager © Copyright Ecquaria Technologies Pte Ltd. All Rights Reserved. 18
FS Manager 19
FS Manager - Features n n FS Manager User Guided and template based online data entry n Available Help Resources 20
FS Manager XBRL File n Option to save as a XBRL file or a PDF copy 21 PDF Copy
Filing Requirement in XBRL Scope of XBRL Filing of Financial Statements: Unlimited and Limited By Shares Companies n n Excluded Categories n Banks, insurance companies and finance companies whose activities are regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore n Companies using accounting standards other than Singapore Financial Reporting Standards or International Financial Reporting Standards 22
Filing Requirement in XBRL n Financial Periods Affected n Filing of AR on or after 1 November 2007 and the financial period concerned ends on or after 30 April 2007 n Giving More Time if filing in full XBRL n 1 Month waiver of penalties for Late Annual General Meeting (AGM) or Late Filing n Not applicable to public listed companies 23
Filing Requirement in XBRL n 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 n n n 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 24
Learning Points n Active feedback from all affected stakeholders is critical n Importance of giving ample time for change n Clear communication of requirements to stakeholders n Involve the professional bodies and accounting firms early n Provision of adequate help resources (i. e. XBRL helpdesk, FAQ etc. ) n Extensive information should be provided online n Continuous testing and re-testing 25
Information Services Moving Data to Businesses Sale of information via webservices FS Manager XBRL Accounting systems Distribution of data via Biz. Hub or other channels New XBRL products Public, shareholders, investors, creditors, etc. Govt agencies 26
Future Issues n Revision of current ACRA Taxonomy in the 3 rd quarter of 2008 for latest accounting standards changes - Public consultation expected n Rendering of PDF financial statements - To allow for more flexibility? n Whether to extend Partial XBRL filing option n Move towards a single business taxonomy for the One-Stop Filing Portal in Singapore - Inter-agency collaboration n External assurance is a key concern on moving forward in XBRL adoption in Singapore 27
Future Issues n 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 n Future maintenance and enhancements to FS Manager n Review of 1 st set of corporate financial statements in XBRL format 28
Thank You Further details available at: http: //www. acra. gov. sg Email: ivan_koo@acra. gov. sg 29
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