The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has unveiled the FRC Viewer, which allows users to access company reports filed at Companies House as Inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language (iXBRL) files, which display tagged data within reports. Launched in collaboration with HMRC, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Companies House, the Irish Revenue and the Charity Commission for England and Wales, the aim of the project is to make company financial information more accessible and transparent to stakeholders.

Of the 3.1 million accounts published annually on the Companies House register, 88% are available in iXBRL format. The accounts of listed companies, who file with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), are also available in iXBRL format. 

The Viewer is part of a plan to accelerate and support the use of structured company and organisational data across both public and regulatory sectors. With the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 giving the Registrar of Companies more powers to impose rules around the filing of tagged accounts in iXBRL format via registrar’s rules, it is likely that such requirements will be introduced in the future. 

The Viewer project is funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology as part of the grant-based Regulators’ Pioneer Fund, which enables UK regulators and local authorities to create a regulatory environment that encourages business innovation and investment.

“The public launch of this Viewer marks an important milestone in our commitment to improving the accessibility and usability of financial reporting data for all of our stakeholders,” says Mark Babington, FRC Executive Director of Regulatory Standards. “The idea is to help unlock the value of the millions of data points already collected from UK companies supporting better-informed stakeholder decisions. By making structured data more accessible, we’re not just improving transparency, we’re creating new opportunities for businesses and investors to make more informed decisions about their operations and investments.”

Louise Smyth, Chief Executive of Companies House, adds: “We welcome the launch of this new tool, which makes it easier to view and analyse structured financial information in the companies register. We are committed to becoming a fully digital filing service and improving the quality of our data to benefit the economy.”

Visit the ICAEW Economic Crime hub for more information about the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act.