What is XBRL, and why does it matter for your filing?
A plain explanation of XBRL and iXBRL, how it's used in Dutch SBR reporting, and what accurate tagging actually involves.
XBRL: a structured language for financial data
XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) is a global standard for tagging individual pieces of financial and business information so they can be read automatically by computer systems, rather than only by people reading a document. Each figure - revenue, total assets, a specific tax line - is tagged with a standard concept from a taxonomy, alongside its period, unit and context.
iXBRL (Inline XBRL) embeds these tags directly inside a human-readable HTML document, so the same file that a person reads in a browser also carries the machine-readable data underneath. This is the format used across most of the SBR filings submitted in the Netherlands.
SBR: the Dutch government's structured-data channel
SBR (Standard Business Reporting) is the infrastructure the Dutch government uses to receive structured financial data from companies. It defines the Nederlandse Taxonomie - the set of concepts a Dutch company's figures are tagged against - and routes submissions through Digipoort to the receiving authority: Belastingdienst for corporate tax returns, or KVK for annual accounts.
Why tagging accuracy matters
A figure tagged to the wrong taxonomy concept, or tagged with the wrong period or unit, can cause a filing to be rejected at the gateway - or worse, accepted but misread by the receiving system. Tagging is a specialist skill: it requires understanding both the taxonomy and the specific structure of the company's own financial statements, including where standard concepts don't quite fit and an extension element with proper anchoring is needed instead.
Detail tagging vs block tagging
Detail tagging applies to individual numeric or textual facts - a single revenue figure, a specific note amount. Block tagging applies to larger sections of narrative text, such as an entire accounting policy note, tagged as one block rather than broken into individual facts. Most SBR filings in the Netherlands rely primarily on detail tagging of the primary financial statements.
Software vs a managed service
XBRL software puts the taxonomy mapping, tagging and validation work in the hands of your own team, who must learn the taxonomy and keep up with its annual updates. A managed service like XBRTags removes that burden: you send your finalised report and receive a validated, gateway-tested file back, with no software licence or in-house taxonomy expertise required.
XBRL terminology, plainly explained.
Taxonomy
The dictionary of standard concepts a figure can be tagged with - for the Netherlands, the Nederlandse Taxonomie.
Extension element
A custom tag created when no standard taxonomy concept matches a company-specific line item.
Anchoring
Linking an extension element back to the nearest standard concept, so its meaning is still comparable.
Context
The period, entity and scenario a tagged fact relates to - essential for the figure to be interpreted correctly.
Digipoort
The Dutch government's secure gateway for receiving SBR submissions from companies and their agents.
Validation
Automated checks confirming a file meets the taxonomy's structural and calculation rules before acceptance.
XBRL basics, answered.
XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) is an open international standard for tagging structured business and financial data so it can be processed automatically by software as well as read by people.
iXBRL (Inline XBRL) embeds XBRL tags directly inside a human-readable HTML document, so one file is both a normal-looking report and a machine-readable data file, unlike plain XBRL which is data-only.
To make financial filings with the Belastingdienst and KVK consistent, machine-readable, and faster to process and validate, replacing manual paper or PDF submissions.
Yes, XBRL and iXBRL are used by regulators worldwide, including the SEC (US), Companies House and HMRC (UK), and under ESEF across the EU for listed companies' Annual Financial Reports.
To read the underlying tagged data, yes. But an iXBRL file can be opened and read like a normal document in any web browser, since it's built on standard HTML.
Need your report tagged, not just explained?
Send it to us and we'll return a validated XBRL file, no software required.