iXBRL
Inline XBRL (iXBRL) is a format that embeds machine-readable XBRL tags directly inside the human-readable HTML document of an SEC filing. Rather than submitting a separate XBRL data exhibit alongside the filing — the original approach — a company files a single document that is simultaneously a readable web page for people and a fully tagged dataset for software. The numbers you see on the page and the data a machine extracts are therefore guaranteed to be the same figures.
Inline XBRL is now the required format for the financial statements in 10-K and 10-Q filings, replacing the older practice of filing XBRL as a standalone exhibit.
Under the original XBRL mandate, companies filed two versions of their financials: the human-readable document and a separate XBRL exhibit. Keeping the two in sync added friction and created the risk of discrepancies between what a person read and what a machine extracted.
The SEC adopted Inline XBRL to solve this. It phased in the requirement between 2019 and 2021, beginning with large accelerated filers and extending to smaller reporting companies and certain funds. With iXBRL, the tags are woven into the HTML using special markup, so a single submission serves both audiences and the data is self-consistent by construction.
For data platforms, Inline XBRL means the tagged facts can be read straight from the as-filed document. GeminIQ extracts financial values from this XBRL data in EDGAR, so every figure traces back to the exact, machine-tagged number in the company's filing.
A: Regular (standalone) XBRL is filed as a separate data exhibit alongside the human-readable document. Inline XBRL embeds the same tags directly inside the HTML filing, so one document serves both human readers and software, eliminating any mismatch between the two.
A: The SEC phased in the Inline XBRL requirement between 2019 and 2021, starting with the largest filers (large accelerated filers) and extending to accelerated filers, smaller reporting companies, and certain funds in subsequent years.
A: Yes. An Inline XBRL filing renders as an ordinary HTML document in a browser. The XBRL tags are embedded invisibly in the markup, so people read it normally while software can still extract the structured data.
Further Reading: What Is XBRL?
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