Since 1 April 2011, companies have had to file their company tax returns electronically. The accounts and computations elements of such returns must be filed in iXBRL, which is an IT standard designed specifically for business financial reporting.
There are a number of exemptions from filing iXBRL accounts, most notably for unincorporated charities and small charities (income of less than £6.5m). However for those who are not exempt, earlier this month Companies House updated the TIS (Technical Interface Specification) for accounts guidance. The changes are in relation to the Taxonomy Suite which means iXBRL software providers are going to need to update their software. This process is likely to be complex and may well increase the time and cost of the tagging of accounts.
To ensure that key information is provided, specific XBRL elements must be provided for the current accounting period. Those specific to Charity accounts are: Company number, Company name, Balance Sheet date, Balance sheet date of approval, Balance Sheet name of director approving, company dormant status, start of reporting period, end of reporting period, company trading, accounts audited/unaudited, accounting standards applied, and charity number.
If the Accounts Status Audited Or Unaudited element indicates that the accounts are unaudited, then different details must be provided these can be found in the
guidance published.
We would recommend those connected with incorporated charities check with their software suppliers to ensure they are aware of the need to update their software.
