DIGITAL SUSTAINABILITY DISCLOSURES WITH XBRL

    Facilitate data analysis in xBRL-JSON

    xBRL-JSON is designed to simplify analysis and make XBRL data easy to consume by machines.

    The xBRL-JSON format is a simpler and more universal representation of sustainability data in XBRL reports that can be used by a range of software tools to analyse reports. When planning XBRL reports you should consider how to publish sustainability data in a digital format so that it can then be fed directly into analytic databases.

    These analytical databases include:

    • Databases that belong to data providers and ratings agencies
    • Databases that belong to academia and government agencies
    • Analytic tools of investors and other stakeholders

    Any XBRL report can be exported to the xBRL-JSON data format. xBRL-JSON is based on the JSON syntax widely used by third-party analytical business information software and is designed to simplify XBRL report consumption.

    XBRL standard and xBRL-JSON

    The role of xBRL-JSON is the publication of XBRL data that has already been validated as part of regulatory data collection in a format that can be used by many analysis software tools. For regulators collecting XBRL data, publishing data in xBRL-JSON makes the data more accessible for consumers looking to take advantage of the collected and structured data.

    Where data is collected in the iXBRL format, publication in xBRL-JSON must be an addition to the original iXBRL document. The xBRL-JSON format contains only the raw data and does not include human-readable information in the report.

    An xBRL-JSON report typically contains many facts. These facts are defined in a facts object within the xBRL-JSON report. In addition to the facts objects, xBRL-JSON reports include a document information header providing contextual information for the report as a whole.

    Example

    A company files a progress report about greenhouse gas emissions, which contains tables of sustainability data.

    Here is an example of an iXBRL report. In the report, the tables include information about emissions and carbon offset.

    CarMaker report (iXBRL format)

    The company wants to publish sustainability data in a format that is easier to analyse and compare with other results. The iXBRL report is converted to xBRL-JSON using one of the XBRL to JSON conversion tools available.

    Here is an example of a report exported to xBRL-JSON format.

    CarMaker report (xBRL-JSON format)

    The converted xBRL-JSON report is then analysed with xBRL-JSON reports from other companies.

    Here, you can see a graph with all three companies. Tableau used the xBRL-JSON files to generate a graph that compares the energy consumption of the companies.

    Chart comparing greenhouse gas emissions (Tableau report)

    More detail

    Export iXBRL to xBRL-JSON

    Any report that uses the iXBRL format can be converted into xBRL-JSON. Several certified XBRL products are available to do the conversion which is fully automated.

    Learn more about available XBRL Tools