Here is what you need to do to ready your Excel-template for the upcoming reporting period
This guide is intended to show how to update your Excel template, so it is ready to go for the upcoming reporting period.
Step 1: Update Excel template to the newest version
The General Data ESEF- and ESEF hypertags-sheets (and General Data DKGAAP- and DKGAAP hypertags-sheets for Danish companies) are applied with version numbers at the top of the sheets. This is because we update these sheets every time changes are made to the current ESEF (and DKGAAP) regulations, or if we make improvements to the overall template. To make sure each of these sheets is up to date, follow the instructions through this link.
Step 2: Make sure the General Data reflects the information in your upcoming report
When updating your Excel template so it is ready to be used for your upcoming report, it is important to double-check that all the information accurately reflects the information present in your upcoming report. Make sure to both check the general information and update the date section, so the dates in the Excel reflect the dates that you are including in your newest report.
For help regarding how to fill out the General Datasheet, click here.
Step 3: Update your financial statements
The next step is to update the technical financial statements (Income statement, Balance sheet, etc.). If you have additions/changes to your accounts, make sure to highlight these changes in yellow and write a small description of the change to the right of the given line. Afterward, please send your Excel template (including highlighted account changes) to support@parseport.com. Our mapping department will then make sure that all the changes are properly recognized when converting.
Furthermore, you need to update the financial periods and values, so they accurately reflect those in your new PDF report. This also includes adding/removing potential columns/periods, should this be necessary. Please double-check that the order of the periods stated in the columns reflects the order of the periods in your PDF report and aligns with the period order of the date section in the General Datasheet.
Step 4: Check the technical parameters of your Excel-template
If you have made any changes to your financial accounts and/or columns in your Excel template, please double-check that the simplified tags will still recognize the correct data. In short, these red simplified tags are pieces of ‘code’ that tell our machine which data span needs to be picked up during conversion. Most often, these simplified tags will automatically pick up added/deleted accounts and columns, but this is not always the case. To double-check, double-click on the simplified tag. You will then see four colored boxes pop up. These boxes represent the edges of the area that the machine will read during a conversion. The correct placement of the boxes is shown below:
If your boxes are placed incorrectly (see example below), you need to manually drag the boxes into the right places and then press ‘enter’.
Please refrain from manipulating any of the code in the red simplified tag, after double-clicking on the code. If you do so, this may lead the machine to incorrectly recognize your data. If you accidentally edit the code in the simplified tag, please send your template to support@parseport.com and we will help you restore the original code.
Additionally, should there be any ‘note-overrides’ (see example below) present, these are technical ‘left-overs’ from our older tagging templates. We initially used these when financial statement line items (FSLIs) were too undescriptive of what information they contained (from a technical point of view). Then, we made note-overrides that specified for our machine, what exact information that FSLI contained. However, using note-overrides is no longer a preferred method. Therefore, if you have any note-overrides on any of your accounts in your Excel-template, we kindly ask you to remove them. Please note when you remove note-overrides, copy the text in the note and replace the undescriptive FSLI with this text and then delete the note. Please colour the new FSLI text in blue so it is easy to differentiate between your original and changed FSLIs. Do not worry if the changed FSLI now differs from what is stated in your PDF, our machine will recognize your account properly.
We kindly advise you to keep in the following in mind for future reports. Firstly, it is best practice that your FSLI’s should be specific enough that they provide technical readers with enough information about what that account contains, just by reading the FSLI (out of context). This will greatly help a technical reader’s (e.g., an investor) ability to understand the meaning of all your individual financial accounts. For example, if you have an account label (FSLI) called Tax, this would be ‘undescriptive’ in terms of what the actual account entails. In this case, we recommend making it clear what tax you are referring to. A more specific FSLI could be Company tax.
However, your FSLI’s should also not be too specific. If they are very specific, they likely must be changed every year resulting in having to spend a lot of time waiting for the re-mapping of existing accounts. For example, an FSLI called Equity at 01/01/22 would be too specific. Here, we recommend changing it to Equity at beginning of period. By doing this, the same account will not need to be re-mapped every year, but can be reused again and again.
Additionally, please refrain from making unnecessary FSLI-changes (e.g., changing an FSLI from Profit or loss to Profit/loss, Profit (loss), etc.), as this provides no additional information and will leave you waiting for more unnecessary re-mapping. By following these recommendations, you will make the financial statements (and the mapping hereof) more consistent between financial reports which will greatly benefit investors and similar relevant parties.
Step 5: Perform conversion
The last step is to perform a conversion in our portal with the updated template (either without the PDF, or with a draft of your upcoming PDF if it is ready). This way, you can analyze if there are any potential issues that need to be fixed. Please remember to double-check if everything is lighting up in the ‘Viewer ‘tab in the Inspector (remember to click the ‘highlight’-function).
If any new/changed accounts are not recognized during a conversion (see example from Validation-page below), please write an email to support@parseport.com detailing which lines are not being recognized, along with short descriptions of the changes. We will then make sure that your accounts are correctly recognized/mapped when performing a conversion.
