Report format
About the data
Why is this important?
All company disclosures must be machine readable to enable tracking of company progress and identify best practice across sectors.
Context:
While AI is improving and making it easier to extract data from PDF reports, this approach is not accurate enough to depend on and remains expensive to run. Rather companies need to make use of formats with digital tags that enable machine readability at low costs. XBRL is a great example of a machine readable format.
Under the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), companies will soon be required to use XBRL tags in the European Single Electronic Format (ESEF) for sustainability data. Although still voluntary, companies can prepare for future requirements by applying it to current reporting.
Methodology
Start by looking in the place where the company hosts its report. Check there if the company offers multiple formats in which you can download the report.
If there is only one link/format, search through that document with keyword searches for the other format options. Most likely you will be looking through a pdf report searching for "XBRL".
Note: Some companies are required to make their financial data available in the European Single Electronic Format (ESEF) with digital XBRL (or also referred to as iXBRL) tags. Make sure not to mistake such a reference to XBRL for the company also making its non-financial data available in XBRL.
Companies might provide their report in multiple formats so make sure to check for all options and select as many answer options as apply.
If you found the answer to this question by looking at the company's website, use that page as the Source you cite. If you found the answer by searching through their report, then that should be the Source you cite.