SAP AG Pioneers the Future of Financial Reporting: Implementing IFRS-based XBRL Statements

This case study examines the accelerating move toward globalization of financial reporting through IFRS and XBRL. In 2015, there are more than 120 nations that have adopted IFRS and over 50 countries that have implemented national XBRL projects. The European Union (EU) will mandate IFRS-based XBRL as of January 1, 2020 and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is expected to require foreign-based corporations file IFRS- based XBRL financial statements in 2016. This case spotlights the German corporation SAP AG, which since 2005 has created traditional IFRS-based financial statements (i.e., PDF, HTML), and has produced IFRS-based XBRL statements since 2009. SAP AG provides insights into the future of global financial accounting as it’s one of the first companies in the world to fully integrate the IFRS XBRL taxonomy into their financial statement reporting process. We have created an accompanying case website that contains source documents from the IASB, XBRL International, SEC, EU and SAP AG in addition to videos and articles. This website material relates to general IFRS-based XBRL issues and specifically SAP’s IFRS-based XBRL implementation motivation and process. This website complements the written case material by facilitating assignment of in-depth research questions and hands-on exercises and enlivening the case for students. The website link is http://globalaccountingcases.com/sap_ag.