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XBRL Adoption in Singapore[Mr Ivan Koo]

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Agenda

About ACRA and BizFile Corporate Financial Reporting Process in Singapore Why XBRL for ACRA? Project Implementation ACRA Taxonomy About FS Manager Filing Requirement in XBRL Learning Points and Future Issues

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About ACRA ACRA is the national regulator of businesses

and public accountants in Singapore Formed on 1 April 2004, following the merger

of the former Registry of Companies and Businesses and the Public Accountants Board

Our mission is to provide a responsive and trusted regulatory environment for businesses and public accountant

Administers the repository of information and documents on registered entities

As at 31 March 2008, over 327,400 business entities and more than 820 public accountants have registered with ACRA

Our website: www.acra.gov.sg

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About E-registration/filing and

information retrieval system Launched in January 2002 Registration of Companies under

30 minutes Over 280 e-transactions Average of 3,000 e-transactions

daily Pre-XBRL: Financial Statements

filed via PDF copy with Annual Return of Companies

Financial data extracted manually Website: www.bizfile.gov.sg

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Corporate Financial ReportingProcess in Singapore

Accounts or Financial

Statements

Complies with the Accounting

Standards andgives a true &

fair view

Directors

Auditor

Audits the accountsResponsible for the preparation and filing

of the accounts

AccountsPrepared & Filed

UsingFS Manager

Shareholders

Other Usersof AccountsPromotes access to

financial information

Information flow

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Why XBRL for ACRA? XBRL will benefit the business community - Improving access to

data of Singapore companies

Unlocking new value from financial information filed with ACRA

Facilitate a “one-stop” portal for businesses moving forward

Strengthens our regulatory vigilance - A trusted business hub

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Project Implementation:Pre-Project Milestone

2004 2005 2006

XBRL Feasibility Study Conducted by

2003

Recommendation bySpecification Study

and Tender

Tender Awarded to Ecquaria

Technologies

XBRL Steering Committee Established

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Project Implementation:

Project Milestone

FS Manager Launch

Feb 06 Aug 06 Aug 07May 07

F

I

N

A

L

L

A

U

N

C

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FS Manager Final Version

Requirement Gathering and Development

Feedback

Taxonomy Draft Version

Taxonomy Final Version

Nov 07

Testing

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1st Public Announcement - Mar 2006 by Minister 1st XBRL Public Awareness Seminar held on 30 Nov 2006 1st Guidelines Issued on 30 Apr 2007 11 Public Seminars with our Professional Associations

with over 3,300 participants Press Announcement on 1st Nov 2007 Compulsory Filings

in May 07 Letters Sent to Directors on XBRL Implementation in

Singapore

Project Implementation:Public Engagement

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Training Sessions on FS Manager and XBRL held since Aug 07 to date: Over 100 Classes

Focused Group Discussions between ACRA and Companies

ACRA XBRL Helpdesk Established since May 07 Engagement between ACRA and the professional bodies in

Singapore on XBRL

Project Implementation:Public Engagement

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ACRA Taxonomy

Designed to comply with the requirements of the Singapore Financial Reporting Standards (which is closely aligned with the IFRS) and the Singapore Companies Act

Captures more than 500 data elements

Authored by Mr Thomas Egan, a member of the IASCF XBRL Quality Review Team with inputs from the various professional bodies and accounting firms in Singapore and developed using UBMATRIX XBRL Taxonomy Designer

A PDF copy of the ACRA taxonomy is available under the “Illustrative Financial Statements” section of: http://www.acra.gov.sg/Services/Company/Filing_of_Financial_Statement_in_XBRL.htm

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ACRA Taxonomy Designed based on the premise that:

no company should extend the taxonomy; and industry specific data should be in the single taxonomy if important

Self-extending taxonomy concept that allows for: core data that is common to most entities and of interest to most

users to be captured specifically; and other data to be captured under a flexible classification that will

allow for efficient manual extraction

The self-extending taxonomy concept utilises a simple user-described tuple structure to capture in a single element the exact description used by the company in its financial statements as well as that specific value associated with it

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ACRA Taxonomy- Illustration of the Income Statement

Captures core data and user-described data

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It is an online tool so you’ll need to

connect to the Internet to access

FS Manager

It allows you to enter your financial statements in a format required by ACRA for the purpose of Annual Return filings

is a free online tool provided by ACRA as part of Bizfile to help companies prepare and manage Financial Statements in XBRL format.

It saves data on your own hard disk as XBRL files (editable) and allows you to create readable PDF (not editable) files for printing and viewing

© Copyright Ecquaria Technologies Pte Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

About FS Manager

If your accounting software/ ERP systems can export your financial statements in XBRL format using ACRA taxonomy, you can use FS Manager to open these files before AR Filing

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FS Manager Usage of FS Manager:

Guided and template based online data entry Option to save financial statements in PDF for record

purposes or filing with other regulators e.g. Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore and the Monetary Authority of Singapore

Value Proposition to Companies: Free Online tool to prepare their financial statements Creation of an XBRL (instance) file without knowing

what is XBRL

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FS Manager One can assess FS Manager from the ACRA Homepage.

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Using FS Manager to Prepare Financial Statements

© Copyright Ecquaria Technologies Pte Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

ACRA FS ManagerACRA FS Manager

XBRL

Data Entry

Importing fromaccounting systems

XBRL

Save as XBRLPDF

Save as PDF

FS Manager designed to be used as a Financial Statements preparation tool for Singapore companies

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Using FS Manager to File Annual Return

© Copyright Ecquaria Technologies Pte Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

ACRA BizFileACRA BizFile

ACRA FS ManagerACRA FS Manager

XBRLXBR

L

FS Manager also facilitates the uploading to BizFile and validation of XBRL Financial Statements

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FS Manager

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FS Manager- Features

Guided and template based online data entry

FS Manager User Guide

Available Help Resources

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FS Manager

Option to save as a XBRL file or a PDF copy

XBRL File

PDF Copy

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Filing Requirement in XBRL Scope of XBRL Filing of Financial Statements: Unlimited and Limited

By Shares Companies

Excluded Categories Banks, insurance companies and finance companies whose

activities are regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore Companies using accounting standards other than Singapore

Financial Reporting Standards or International Financial Reporting Standards

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Filing Requirement in XBRL Financial Periods Affected

Filing of AR on or after 1 November 2007 and the financial period concerned ends on or after 30 April 2007

Giving More Time if filing in full XBRL 1 Month waiver of penalties for Late Annual General Meeting

(AGM) or Late Filing Not applicable to public listed companies

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Two Filing Options

Option A: Full XBRL

(FS Manager is used to prepare financial statements presented at company’s AGM. Optional to submit PDF copy of financial statements presented at company’s AGM)

2,804 filings as of 30 Apr 2008

Option B: Partial XBRL (Balance Sheet + Income Statement + Mandatory Information Only in XBRL format) + PDF copy of financial statements presented at company’s AGM

5,458 filings as of 30 Apr 2008

Filing Requirement in XBRL

More than 50,000 companies are expected to file their accounts in XBRL format

For more information, please refer to ACRA Practice Directions 2 and 5 of 2007 available at:

http://www.acra.gov.sg/Publications/Practice_Directions.htm

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Learning Points Active feedback from all affected stakeholders is critical

Importance of giving ample time for change

Clear communication of requirements to stakeholders

Involve the professional bodies and accounting firms early

Provision of adequate help resources (i.e. XBRL helpdesk, FAQ etc.)

Extensive information should be provided online

Continuous testing and re-testing

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Information Services -Moving Data to Businesses

FS Manager

Accounting systems

Sale of information

via web-services

Govt agencies

Public, shareholders, investors,creditors, etc.

Distribution of data via BizHub or

other channels

New XBRL

products

XBRL

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Future Issues Revision of current ACRA Taxonomy in the 3rd quarter of 2008 for

latest accounting standards changes - Public consultation expected

Rendering of PDF financial statements - To allow for more flexibility?

Whether to extend Partial XBRL filing option

Move towards a single business taxonomy for the One-Stop Filing Portal in Singapore - Inter-agency collaboration

External assurance is a key concern on moving forward in XBRL adoption in Singapore

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Future Issues Getting more software vendors onboard and more XBRL tools

available in the local market to enable an “integrated” approach to prepare XBRL financial statements and other regulatory returns

Future maintenance and enhancements to FS Manager

Review of 1st set of corporate financial statements in XBRL format

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Thank You

Further details available at:

http://www.acra.gov.sg

Email: ivan_koo@acra.gov.sg