MEDIA ADVISORY 03/01/11
2011 U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy Adopted and Supported by SEC
Effective February 28, 2011
Norwalk, CT, March 1, 2011—The
Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) today announced that the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC) has adopted the 2011 U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting
Taxonomy. The FAF is responsible for the ongoing maintenance of the taxonomy
applicable to public issuers registered with the SEC.
The U.S. GAAP
Financial Reporting Taxonomy contains updates for accounting standards and other
improvements to the official taxonomy previously in use by SEC issuers.
The complete U.S. GAAP 2011 taxonomy is available here.
Questions about using this taxonomy for creating and submitting
eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) tagged interactive data files in
compliance with SEC rules should be directed to the SEC. SEC contact details and
guidance are available at the SEC’s
portal on XBRL.
The U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy
is a list of computer-readable tags in XBRL that allows companies to tag
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, assemble, and process data so it can be
readily accessed and analyzed by investors, analysts, journalists, and
regulators.
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 in the United States for tagging business reports across all
business domains to aid investors and other users. The Financial Accounting
Standards Board (FASB) staff provided technical accounting standards support to
XBRL US, Inc. during the development of the 2009 taxonomy. In early 2010, the
FAF assumed maintenance responsibilities for the taxonomy, and, along with the
FASB, assembled a team of technical staff dedicated to updating the taxonomy for
changes in U.S. GAAP, identifying best practices in taxonomy extensions, and
technical enhancements.
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.
About the Financial Accounting
Standards Board
Since 1973, the Financial Accounting Standards
Board has been the designated organization in the private sector for
establishing standards of financial accounting and reporting. Those standards
govern the preparation of financial reports and are officially recognized as
authoritative by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the American
Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Such standards are essential to the
efficient functioning of the economy because investors, creditors, auditors, and
others rely on credible, transparent, and comparable financial information. For
more information about the FASB, visit our website at www.fasb.org.