FAF/FASB Taxonomy Role

In 2010, the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) assumed ongoing development and maintenance responsibilities for the US GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy (Taxonomy), which was originally developed by XBRL US, Inc. under contract to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In 2009, the SEC issued rules requiring public companies and foreign private issuers that prepare their financial statements in accordance with US GAAP to phase in use of the Taxonomy. Under these rules, companies will tag and submit their financial statements and related notes to the SEC using the Taxonomy.

A key objective for moving the Taxonomy development and maintenance responsibilities to the FAF and the FASB is to achieve greater integration with the FASB’s standard-setting, codification, and related processes. FASB cross-team efforts are furthering this outcome.

The FAF/FASB activities are focused on updating the Taxonomy for changes in US GAAP, identifying common reporting practices in filer taxonomy extensions, and other technical enhancements. The Taxonomy team works closely with the staff of the SEC, the staff of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), XBRL US, Inc., investors, issuers, accounting firms, and other stakeholders to develop updates that are of the highest quality.


Taxonomy (XBRL)

What's New—XBRL

FASB Staff Issues Proposed Taxonomy Improvements for a Proposed Accounting Standards Update, Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Equity's Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40) and a Proposed Accounting Standards Update, Financial Services—Insurance (Topic 944): Effective Date (August 22, 2019)
FASB Staff Issues Proposed Taxonomy Improvements for a Proposed Accounting Standards Update, Investments—Clarifying the Interactions between Topic 321, Topic 323, and Topic 815, and a Proposed Accounting Standards Update, Financial Instruments—Effective Dates, and Accounting Standards Update 2019-07, Codification Updates to SEC Sections (August 15, 2019)
SEC Announces EDGAR System Upgrade: 2017 GAAP Taxonomy No Longer Supported (June 12, 2019)
FASB Adds Taxonomy Entry Points to Address FAST Act Updates in the 2019 DEI Taxonomy (June 11, 2019)
FASB Staff Issues Proposed Taxonomy Improvements for a Proposed Accounting Standards Update on Codification Amendments in Response to the SEC's Disclosure Update and Simplification Initiative and for a Proposed Accounting Standards Update Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes (Topic 740) (May 23, 2019)
SEC Accepts 2019 GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy and SEC Reporting Taxonomy (March 12, 2019)
FASB Staff Issues Update to Frequently Asked Questions about the U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy and a Final Taxonomy Implementation Guide on Financial Instruments—Debt Securities (March 6, 2019)
Video: The XBRL Data User Perspective
Video: The GAAP Taxonomy: Why It’s Important