The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has issued for public comment proposed technical improvements to references for the 2021 U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy and the related release notes. These proposed improvements are designed to reduce inconsistencies in the application of elements and enhance their intended use. References were added to elements related to presentation and disclosure requirements for almost 20 FASB Accounting Standards Codification® topics. In total, there were more than 450 reference additions and almost 500 reference deletions to elements. For those references added, reference roles were assigned to indicate the order of precedence and to assist with element selection.

The FASB is seeking feedback on whether users of the U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy agree with the proposed reference additions, reference deletions, and new references. The comment period for the proposed improvements ends on November 9, 2020. Comments should be submitted directly to the FASB. The SEC staff encourages filers, investors, analysts, software service providers, and other interested parties to participate in this public review to continue to improve the process for creating and using XBRL-structured financial statements and the related footnotes.

Only annual compilations of the U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy that are specified on the Commission’s website may be used in SEC XBRL submissions. The availability for public comment of the proposed U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy update does not indicate Commission approval of any potential regulatory changes related to the EDGAR Filer Manual. Please refer to the SEC’s EDGAR webpage at https://www.sec.gov/edgar/filer-information/current-edgar-filer-manual for updated information on when the Commission approves changes, if any, related to the EDGAR Filer Manual.