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SEC Disclosure Project – Part 2: Inline XBRL
Digital reporting of financial and nonfinancial business information continues to evolve and
increase in importance. XBRL, eXtensible Business Reporting Language, is an XML standard
for tagging business and financial reports using digital dictionaries, or taxonomies. The US
GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy is a list of computer-readable tags in XBRL that allows
companies to label the vast amounts of financial data included in typical financial statements and
related footnote disclosures. This tagging provides greater uniformity and helps increase the
transparency and accessibility of the information. The SEC requires domestic and foreign
companies using US GAAP and foreign private issuers using International Financial Reporting
Standards (IFRS) to provide their financial statements in the XBRL format.
What is Inline XBRL?
In June 2018, the SEC adopted amendments to require the use of Inline XBRL for company
financial statement information. Inline XBRL is a structured data language that allows filers to
prepare a single document that is both human-readable and machine-readable. Prior to these
amendments, companies prepared two versions of their financial statements: (1) an HTML
document and (2) a tagged version of the data that appeared as a separate XBRL exhibit. For data
users, Inline XBRL provides an easier way to view, access, and explore the contextual
information of the underlying data. For example, users can click on individual tagged data points
in the filing to find more information about the data, such as citations and hyperlinks to the
relevant accounting guidance, narrative definitions for the values, and reporting period
information associated with each value.
“Viewing Inline XBRL filings does not require any specialized software, because the
Commission has incorporated an Inline XBRL Viewer into the Commission’s Electronic Data
Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) system. Anyone using a recent standard internet
browser can view an Inline XBRL filing on EDGAR.”1
Assignment: Exploring Tesla’s Inline XBRL Filing in EDGAR2
In this assignment, you will use the search features of Inline XBRL to search for information
within Tesla’s most recent Form 10-K (annual report). Instructions and an answer template are
provided on the next page.
Due Date and Submission Procedures
Once you’ve completed your project (by filling in the spaces provided on the following pages),
save this document to your computer (as a Word.doc or PDF file). You’ll need to submit your
project via Canvas. Specifically, go to the SEC Disclosure Project Module and click on the link
to upload your submission for Part 2 of your SEC Disclosure Project.
Due date: Thursday, March 28th at 11:59pm
Grading: This portion of the project is worth 20 points. It will be graded based on effort,
completeness, and the extent to which you follow the instructions.
1 “Inline XBRL,” U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission website, https://www.sec.gov/structureddata/osd-inline-xbrl.html,
accessed December 22, 2022.
2 Portions of this case were adapted from the EY Academic Resource Center’s Analytics Mindset Case Studies – EDGAR
Explorer – Inline XBRL.
Before you begin this assignment, please watch this short video (less than 5 minutes), which
describes some of the features and capabilities of the Inline XBRL Viewer that you’ll be using in
this assignment. (Watching the video will make this assignment easier.)
The image below is a screenshot of an Inline XBRL filing. To navigate the Inline XBRL filing,
you can use the Search Bar at the top of the filing (see 1 below) and the search results appear in
the Facts section (see 2 below). You can navigate the filing by clicking on the links that appear
in the Facts section. These links take you to the section of the filing that discusses each of the
facts (FYI, when you click one of these links, the associated data typically appears at the very
top of the screen). You can quickly navigate the financial statements and footnotes by clicking
Sections (see 3 below).
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Required
Go to the SEC’s EDGAR database and search for the company Tesla (ticker: TSLA). Click the
“View Filings” button to view all of Tesla’s most recent filings with the SEC. Find Tesla’s most
recent 10-K filing. (You can filter results by typing “10-K” in the “search table” box.) Click on
the link for Tesla’s most recent 10-K filing (for the year ended 12/31/2023). Answer the
following questions:
Your answers go here:
1. How many “Facts” (i.e., tagged data items) are included in
Tesla’s 10-K filing?
2. Click on “Sections.” How many Notes to the Financial
Statements are included in Tesla’s 10-K?
3. Under “Sections,” click on “Cover” and then “Audit
Information.” Who audits Tesla? (You may have to scroll up a
little to see the audit report.)
4. Using the Search Bar at the top of the screen, search for
“Research and Development.” How many Facts are related
to Research and Development?
5. Within the “Facts” section, click on the first result related
to R&D Expense for the 12 months ended 12/31/2023. What
amount of R&D Expense did Tesla report for the year ended
12/31/23? (Hint: When you click a link in the “Facts”
section, it takes you to the portion of the financial statements
where that data item appears and gives you a pop-up box of
information about that item. Within this box, you can scroll to
the right and left to find additional information.)
6. Which FASB Codification Topics relate to R&D Expense?
(Hint: You’ll need to scroll to the right within the pop-up box
that appears on the screen until you find information related
to Accounting Standards Codification – it will say
“References” at the very top of the pop-up box. If you scroll
down, you’ll see various references to the Codification. I’d
like to know the relevant Topics only.)
7. In the most recent 3-year period, has Tesla’s spending on
R&D increased or decreased?
8. Using the Search Bar, search for “Digital Assets.” How
many Facts are returned?
9. Click on the first result in the “Facts” section related to
Digital Assets Net Non-current. What amount of Digital
Assets did Tesla report on its most recent balance sheet?
10. Within the list of Facts related to Digital Assets, click on
Significant Accounting Policies. (Hint: You may have to
scroll to the next page of Facts.) Note that Significant
Accounting Policies, which is a very long footnote, is all
tagged as a single data item (i.e., a block of text). Scroll
through this footnote disclosure until you find the section
related to “Digital Assets, Net.” (Hint: The accounting
policies are in the following order: revenues, expenses,
assets, liabilities, so you can scroll quickly until you start
seeing asset accounts.) How does Tesla account for its digital
assets (i.e., what type of an account is it)?
11. How are digital assets valued on the balance sheet (i.e.,
how are they initially recorded and subsequently
remeasured)?
12. Navigate to Footnote 3, Digital Assets. (To do this
quickly, click on “Sections” at the top of the screen.) During
the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, did Tesla
record any impairment losses related to its digital assets? If
so, how much?
13. Using the Search Bar, search for “Income Taxes.” How
many Facts are returned?
14. Click on the Fact related to Income Tax Expense (Benefit)
for the 12 months ending 12/31/2023. What amount of
income tax expense (benefit) did Tesla report for the year
2023? Be sure to specify whether this is an expense or benefit
amount.
15. What is one of the FASB Codification Topics relate to
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)? (Hint: You can find this
information within the pop-up box that appears on the
screen.)
16. Within the list of Facts related to Income Taxes, click on
Income Taxes Paid. What amount of tax did Tesla pay in cash
to the IRS during 2023? (FYI, companies are required to
disclose the amount of cash paid for income taxes each year.)
17. Navigate to Tesla’s footnote related to Income Taxes
(using the “Sections” feature would likely be easiest). Find
the table that provides a “reconciliation of taxes at the federal
statutory rate to our (benefit from) provision for income
taxes” (Hint: It’s the third table in the footnote). Although
Tesla’s standard statutory federal rate would result in income
tax expense in the amount of $2,094,000,000, Tesla actually
reported a large income tax benefit for the year 2023. Based
on this table, what was the primary cause of this income tax
benefit (i.e., what made Tesla’s tax amount negative for
2023)?
Final Requirement:
As the final requirement in this project, go to this FASB publication related to Inline XBRL.
Read the section titled “Who Uses XBRL?” Answer the following questions:
18. What percentage of users who visit the SEC’s EDGAR
database are machines?
19. Name three common users of XBRL data (i.e., based
on what you read, who uses XBRL data?)
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