XBRL vs iXBRL: What You Need to Know for 2024 Reporting

Its transparency cultivates trust among regulators, businesses, and stakeholders. Importantly, it specifically addresses the needs of governments in choosing formats to meet transparency and accessibility laws. IXBRL is pivotal for the ixbrl instance cipc new wave of sustainability reporting, driven by market authorities like ESMA. It enables tagging of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) data, ensuring compliance with emerging regulations. Companies can disclose items such as carbon emissions or governance metrics in iXBRL, blending narrative and structured data.

Stage 4: Validation- Ensuring Accuracy and Compliance

With its powerful set of features and functionality, Integix is the ideal choice for filers looking for a solution that meets all their compliance needs for iXBRL documents. Companies are required to tag all disclosures in the annual report for which there is an appropriate element in the CIPC iXBRL taxonomy. Primary Financial Statements, Auditor’s reports, Director’s reports, and notes to accounts are some examples for which iXBRL tagging is needed. Also to note is that there are 46 mandatory elements in the CIPC iXBRL taxonomy that companies will need to disclose information.

Who is required to use iXBRL?

The South African government has taken the initiative to move from a paper-based reporting system to a structured data reporting system with iXBRL (Inline XBRL). Effective 1st July 2018, the CIPC has mandated companies to file their annual financial statements in a new format, i.e., iXBRL. This new format has replaced the traditional PDF format in which the CIPC annual returns earlier used to be filed. The primary purpose behind the CIPC’s drive to introduce iXBRL was to simplify the financial reporting information electronically for South African-based companies. IXBRL or Inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language, is a revolutionary format that integrates traditional financial reporting with the power of the internet. This format allows companies to present their financial statements in a way that is both human-readable and machine-readable.

Why Has the Reporting Format Changed?

The Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) is an agency of the Department of Trade and Industry in South Africa. The CIPC was established by the Companies Act, 2008 as a juristic person to function as an organ of state within the public administration, but as an institution outside the public service. If you are submiting this request on behalf of your company please provide the name of the company. Finding the right CIPC iXBRL solution provider could take some time, but we recommend that you research well before choosing rather than burning your fingers or falling into the wrong books of the CIPC. We have made things easy for you with our 6-point checklist using which you can choose the right CIPC iXBRL solution provider.

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Unparalleled XBRL Expertise at your Service

A well-structured and unambiguous original document significantly facilitates the subsequent mapping and tagging processes. It offers a solution wherein massive amounts of financial data can be easily and accurately processed to identify insightful information. These factors help turn around the quality of your company’s financial data into a key competitive advantage. And for South Africa-based companies, that milestone was the introduction of iXBRL for financial reporting.

The act aims to safeguard the personal information of public and private companies in South Africa. According to the act, personal information is limited not only to natural persons (human beings) but also extends to juristic persons (like companies). It provides clear directives on how to notify both regulators and data subjects in the event of a data breach. IRIS iFile platform was integrated with the e-services portal so that it gives one “User Interface” feeling for the users. Single sign-on was established for all the users which made it very easy for users to use only one portal. CIPC also provided a validation service which any SSP can use to validate the iXBRL file even before the actual submission to the filing platform.

HMRC and Companies House (UK)

CIPC have opted for the Inline XBRL (iXBRL) specification version 1.1 as published by XBRL International. IXBRL offers several advantages over the traditional XBRL including reduced costs for filers, better XBRL quality, and better overall data quality of filings. Ez-XBRL’s services team has significant credentials in providing fully managed XBRL/iXBRL conversion services. We review your documents at multiple stages of conversion to ensure accuracy of data and XBRL tag selections.

As computations and accounts must be filed in iXBRL, producing them in iXBRL accounts software is far more efficient than completing them initially without software and converting them to iXBRL at a later date. Not just best price or quality, we strive to deliver wow experiences for our customers. We have a no-questions-asked refund policy if you are not satisfied with any aspect of our services. All refund requests must be made by email to and before filing with the regulator.

• Failure to submit Annual Financial Statements (AFS) leads to an investigation, followed by a compliance notice with a specified deadline.
• By mandating iXBRL, the CIPC enabled South African companies to file their financial statements in a unified format that is effective for both companies and the government.
• In case the companies are having a share capital and keeping a branch register outside Singapore, then the annual returns should be filed within 60 days after AGM.

If you have a VAT ID, please be sure to enter it via the “Add VAT Number” link on the checkout page. Even when CIPC has unquestionable security measures in place, there is a risk of data breach when third-party vendors do not place appropriate safety measures. Keeping in mind the importance of system reliability and the confidentiality of non-public information, CIPC is actively implementing measures to reduce the impact on its clients and employees.

CIPC Alert: Navigating the Recent Data Breach Attempt

• IRIS Business Services Limited is a leading structured data solutions company with a global presence in regulatory and compliance reporting software.
• Utilise pre-tagged iXBRL CIPC support by default when using Caseware to draft IFRS or SME annual financial statements.
• With a view to improving the quality of iXBRL filings, the CIPC has developed a new Data Quality Management (DQM) framework.

A flexible project management solution that integrates everything needed to conduct assurance and reporting engagements. Validate iXBRL integrity with rigorous data checks and real-time online validation against the CIPC portal. “We are satisfied with the results and believe the system offers users long-term benefits, especially if they integrate it with their back-end systems,” stated CIPC commissioner Rory Voller. The paperwork and procedures for CIPC filing can change based on your non-profit companies’s size, scope, and revenue. Non-profit companies (NPCs) are established not to generate profits but to serve the public good and pursue social objectives. These organizations possess a legal identity separate from their membership, allowing them to function as individual entities.

Unlike traditional formats, iXBRL combines human-readable financial statements with machine-readable data, enabling automated processing and better compliance. EXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) is an XML-based standard used for the definition and exchange of financial information. Since its introduction in 1998, XBRL has been widely adopted by financial regulators across the globe. The technology uses standardized tags to identify individual financial data points, ensuring that the information is machine-readable. This capability facilitates efficient data analysis and comparison across different organizations.