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SEC Reporting

What Is XBRL?

XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) is the structured data format the SEC requires public companies to use when tagging their financial statements for electronic filing, so regulators, analysts, and software can pull and compare data across filers.

Each line item is tagged against a standardized taxonomy. Current filings use Inline XBRL (iXBRL) — the tags are embedded directly in the human-readable HTML document rather than submitted as a separate exhibit, so the tagged data and the readable filing are the same document. Tagging now also extends beyond the face financial statements and notes to items such as cover-page data.

Getting the tags right is a compliance requirement, not a formatting afterthought: a mis-tagged item can misstate what the filing says in machine-readable form even when the human-readable financials are correct, and that is what automated review tools and data aggregators actually read.

Frequently asked questions

Inline XBRL (iXBRL) is a format in which the XBRL tags are embedded within the human-readable HTML filing rather than provided as a separate data file. It means there is one document instead of two, and the machine-readable data is guaranteed to correspond to what a person sees on the page. The SEC now requires it for operating company financial statement and cover-page data.

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Related

References: SEC Inline XBRL rules; EDGAR Filer Manual. This page is general information, not accounting advice for a specific entity.

Written and maintained by the Gaapio team of CPAs. Last reviewed August 2026.