A Teaching Case on the Future of Global Digital Financial Reporting: The US and EU’s 2021 Mandates for iXBRL and the IFRS Taxonomy, with a Spotlight on SAP SE’s Implementation

This teaching case provides students the opportunity to examine the global digitalization of financial reporting through IFRS and XBRL. In 2021, over 140 nations require IFRS, and more than 60 countries operate national XBRL projects. Both the European Union (EU) and the US SEC employ XBRL’s newest version, known as Inline XBRL (or iXBRL). Inline XBRL combines the human-readable and machine-readable versions of financial statements into one document, providing multiple benefits for report preparers and users. The EU mandates IFRS-based iXBRL financial statements for fiscal years beginning January 1, 2021, under a new regulation known as the European Single Electronic Format (ESEF). The SEC, as of June 15, 2021, requires foreign-based IFRS filers to submit IFRS-based iXBRL financial statements. Student learning objectives require analyzing and applying these new developments, with a focus on SAP SE, the German multinational corporation, which is now required to prepare IFRS-based iXBRL financials for both its SEC and EU ESEF filings. Student learning objectives also include investigating SAP SE’s iXBRL motivation and adoption process. This teaching case is for Information Systems, International Accounting, and Analytics courses.