Norwalk, CT, February 5, 2010—The Financial Accounting
Foundation (FAF) today announced its new responsibility for the ongoing
maintenance of the U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy applicable to public
issuers registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The
FAF and Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) will assemble a small team
of technical staff dedicated to maintaining the taxonomy and will work towards
the release of the next taxonomy update in early 2011. Today’s announcement is
the culmination of several months of discussions between the FAF and the staff
of the SEC.
The U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy is a list of
computer-readable tags in eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) that
allows companies to label precisely the thousands of pieces of financial data
that are included in typical long-form financial statements and related footnote
disclosures. The tags allow computers to automatically search for and assemble
data so it can be readily accessed and analyzed by investors, analysts,
journalists, and the SEC staff.
FAF Chairman Jack Brennan stated, “The
FASB team assigned to taxonomy maintenance will work closely with the SEC,
investors, issuers, accounting firms, and other stakeholders to develop updates
that are of the highest quality.”
The FAF’s maintenance activities will
be focused on updating the taxonomy for changes in U.S. GAAP, best practices in
taxonomy extensions, and technical enhancements.
The 2009 taxonomy
currently in use by SEC issuers was developed by XBRL US, Inc., an independent
non-profit organization with research, development, and education programs
facilitating the widespread adoption of XBRL for tagging business reports across
all business domains to aid investors and other users. The FASB provided
technical accounting standards support to XBRL US during the development of the
2009 taxonomy, and expects to continue cooperative interactions with XBRL US
going forward.
About the Financial Accounting
Foundation
The FAF is responsible for the oversight,
administration, and finances of both the Financial Accounting Standards Board
and its counterpart for state and local government, the Governmental Accounting
Standards Board. The FAF also is responsible for selecting the members of both
Boards and their respective Advisory Councils.