What is IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards)?
The IFRS Taxonomy is a list of elements, and their relationships, which reflect the presentation and disclosure requirements of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). These elements, or tags, are used to mark-up IFRS financial statements so they can be communicated in a standardized, computer-readable format. For investment or insurance companies, or corporations, the requirements are different but the importance is high for each.
IFRS is a set of accounting principles initially outlined to harmonize EU practices. IFRS has become a de facto global accounting standard. Since 2001, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has taken responsibility for codifying and developing IFRS principles to achieve the harmonization necessary to support global financial reporting.
The IASB also develops and maintains the IFRS Taxonomy, which is similar to a dictionary of financial reporting items. By selecting tags from the IFRS Taxonomy which match the related disclosures in the company’s IFRS financial statements, the company is able to prepare computer-readable financial statements in an XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) format, which is required by various regulators. For support and additional information, explore our corporate compliance solutions.