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)