Transforming reporting

Showcase / Experian / Annual Report 2022

Experian: ‘Next generation’ digital reporting

From its beginnings in plain, data-led, machine-readable filings, it is difficult to imagine how XBRL could transform reporting communications.

But, following the ESEF mandate, a quiet revolution in digital reporting software began, and one of the first companies to embrace the potential in this was Experian.

Its 2022 prototype online ESEF report, created in Reportl, offered a glimpse of the huge potential of the iXBRL format.

View Experian's 2022 Report

A look into the future with iXBRL

Working closely with Friend Studio, data and technology company Experian used Reportl to develop its 2022 prototype digital first iXBRL report.

As far as we’re aware, this was the world’s first fully interactive, responsive, ‘native’ HTML iXBRL report – bringing a new level of communications and engagement to this previously data-led format.

View Experian's 2022 Report

The story

The context

Experian is a global data and technology company, powering opportunities for people and businesses around the world.

Experian’s corporate reporting is a crucial tool for stakeholder engagement, building trust in the business and understanding of its investment case.

As a digital data business, the Experian team wanted to explore the potential for data-led software and processes to transform its ESEF reporting.

The challenge

The ESEF reporting regulation was introduced to improve digital reporting for all stakeholders – human and machine – allowing all needs to be met in a ‘single electronic format’.

But the early solutions to this are a conversion of a PDF to the tagged format.

This has provided a basic first step in ESEF reporting, but as ESMA says this method of creating the digital report has limitations, and doesn’t deliver the advantages of digitisation.

The solution

To fully explore the potential of the new digital format, the team at Friend Studio used the beta version of Reportl to create Experian’s 2022 interactive, online ESEF report – a first for digital reporting.

This transforms the ESEF format, adding all the online features you would expect from digital. This prototype demonstrated how a higher quality ESEF report enables companies to transform their communications.

With all of the core capabilities of the web, and with cleaner, more efficient data, this approach to the digital ESEF report was recognised by both regulators and XBRL standard setters as best practice.

The benefits

Experian’s 2022 Annual Report was a world first in digital reporting – a future-ready, fully interactive, ESEF-compliant annual report, which unlocked the digital potential of the new ‘single electronic format’.

This next-generation of iXBRL reporting delivers compliance and communications in one digital report.

Just like the rest of the web, this iXBRL report is interactive, responsive and navigable. It also has full search, SEO, analytics, video and much more. This is made possible by the advances in Reportl software and offers a tangible glimpse of the future of digital corporate reporting.

This ‘next generation’ of digital report also offers a long-term solution to other digital compliance challenges, including accessibility and sustainability reporting.

View Experian's 2022 Report