[18363]
December 21, 2004
TO: ACCOUNTING/TREASURERS COMMITTEE No. 32-04
RE: INVESTMENT COMPANY XBRL TAXONOMY RELEASED FOR PUBLIC COMMENT
Extensible Business Reporting Language is an open source specification for software that
uses tags to identify information and facilitate the preparation, publication and analysis of that
information. XBRL tags are machine readable, enabling users to extract, exchange, analyze and
display tagged financial information. XBRL was developed and continues to be supported by
XBRL International, a collaborative consortium of approximately 250 organizations
representing many elements of the financial community. XBRL International has developed
standard taxonomies that classify and define financial information in accordance with U.S.
GAAP and SEC regulations. The SEC recently proposed rule amendments that would enable
registrants to voluntarily submit XBRL-tagged financial information as exhibits to filings made
on the EDGAR system.1
The XBRL-US Domain Working Group recently released for public comment a draft
taxonomy specifically developed for investment companies. The draft taxonomy is designed to
facilitate the creation of XBRL instance documents that comply with generally accepted
accounting principles and SEC reporting requirements. The XBRL-US Domain Working Group
is seeking comment on the draft taxonomy in an effort to ensure that it is complete (i.e., that
there is a data tag for each financial statement element that must be disclosed) and that financial
statement elements are properly described. Comments on the draft taxonomy should be
submitted to the AICPA no later than January 17, 2005.2
The XBRL-US Domain Working Group has prepared several tools to assist accountants
and other financial professionals in their review of the draft investment company taxonomy.
The Reviewer’s Guide to Financial Reporting Taxonomies describes a process whereby an
individual familiar with financial reporting requirements can evaluate a draft taxonomy from
the standpoint of coverage, accuracy and other criteria.3 In addition, human-readable versions
of the draft investment company taxonomy have been prepared in both PDF and Excel format.
1 Memorandum to Accounting/Treasurers Committee No. 28-04 [18057], dated September 30, 2004.
2 The draft taxonomy, a reviewer’s guide, and procedures for submitting comments are available at
http://www.xbrl.org/us/fr/gaap/im/2005-02-01/.
3 The Reviewer’s Guide to Financial Reporting Taxonomies is available at
http://www.xbrl.org/us/USFRTF/Reviewer's%20Guide%20to%20Financial%20Reporting%20Taxonomies-2004-09-
09.htm.
2
If you have comments on the draft investment company taxonomy that you would like
to be included in a possible Institute comment letter, please contact the undersigned
(smith@ici.org or 202/326-5851) no later than January 7, 2005.
Gregory M. Smith
Director - Operations/Compliance & Fund
Accounting