U.S. GAAP – XBRL Custom Tags Trend

The staff in the Commission’s Division of Economic and Risk Analysis (DERA) recently analyzed custom tags used in eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) filings submitted by issuers to comply with the 2009 interactive data rules requiring financial statement information to be reported in XBRL.[1] The purpose of the analysis was to analyze trends in filers’ use of custom tags[2] in their XBRL financial data filed on Form 10-K in two categories: 1) financial statements and 2) financial statements and notes.

The Commission’s rules allow filers to create custom tags when the standard taxonomy does not provide an appropriate element to tag the data. While this customization accommodates unique circumstances in a filer’s particular disclosure, the Commission has acknowledged that the use of custom tags could potentially reduce the comparability of inter-company data.[3] Thus, the Commission's rules specify the limited circumstances under which a filer may create custom tags.[4] Our analysis covered XBRL financial statement information filed on Form 10-K using U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) for fiscal years 2012 through 2025.[5]

DERA staff intends to continue reviewing filers’ use of XBRL custom tags in their submissions to the Commission. Depending on the results of those efforts, DERA staff may share additional trends, issue guidance, or pursue other actions.

For the staff observations DERA staff published in 2014 on custom tag rates, see Staff Observations of Custom Tag Rates. For the staff’s previous trend analyses on custom tags, see the Trends section on Office of Data Standards and Innovation Staff Observations, Guidance, and Trends. DERA staff welcomes your questions and comments. Please email us at StructuredData@sec.gov.

[1] Release No. 33-9002 (Jan. 30, 2009) and Release No. 33-10514 (Jun. 28, 2018).

[2] 17 CFR 232.405(c)(1)(iii).

[3] Release No. 33-9002 (Jan. 30, 2009).

[4] See 17 CFR 232.405(c)(1)(iii)(B) (“An electronic filer must create and use a new special element if and only if an appropriate tag does not exist in the standard list of tags for reasons other than or in addition to an inappropriate standard label.”).

[5] Fiscal years are based on filers' self-designations. Our analysis includes custom tags of line item tags and excludes tags that are abstract, domain member, and domain. For definitions, see XBRL glossary. BDCs are excluded for the years from 2012 to 2021.

View the deprecated U.S. GAAP - XBRL Custom Tags Trend page.