Temporary Unavailability Notice
An informational modal is now displayed when users attempt to access XBRL Financial Statements preparation or upload. The XBRL feature is temporarily unavailable while ACRA completes its migration from API Mall to API Marketplace.
All Singapore-incorporated companies are required to file financial statements with ACRA, except for those that are exempted.
With CAS 360, you can now prepare, validate, and upload your XBRL Financial Statements directly via the CAS 360 XBRL tool and file with ACRA.
To watch the recorded Lunch & Learn - XBRL Webinar, Click Here!
Details
Note: Filing XBRL Financial Statements will only be available for companies with the following statuses, noted on the General Details for the company:
- Private Company – Exempt (Limited by Shares, Limited by Shares and Guarantee, Unlimited)
- Private Company – Non-Exempt (Limited by Shares, Limited by Shares and Guarantee, Unlimited)
- Public Company (Limited by Shares, Limited by Shares and Guarantee, No Liability)
For more information on whether your company is required to file financial statements, click here.
Pre-Requisites
- Prior to preparing the financial statements, users will need to download and run the latest version of XBRL Desktop exe.
- Ensure a unique entity number (UEN) is recorded for the company in General Details.
- Ensure a Registered Filing Agent is set up, authorised with SingPass and attached to the company in General Details.
- Currently, CAS XBRL is only available for Windows users.
Navigation
| From the Main Toolbar, go to Returns | |
| Select Singapore Returns |
In the returns tab, you will find all companies with Annual Returns due.
Select beside the company you would like to file Financial Statements for and click Prepare XBRL Financial Statement to open the XBRL tool.
The CAS 360 XBRL application will now load.
Link XBRL Tool to your CAS 360 Firm
The CAS 360 XBRL Authorisation will display, prompting you to validate your CAS 360 Firm.
Begin by entering your CAS 360 username (Note: All user roles except "View Only" and "BGL Success" can access the token key)
To locate your XBRL Token Key, click the link on the CAS 360 XBRL Authorisation
You will be taken to the Token Management screen in CAS 360. In order to generate an XBRL token key, click on the Generate button under Singapore XBRL Token.
Once a Token Key has been generated, select the Copy button.
This key will be valid for 30 days.
Return to the CAS 360 XBRL Authorisation page. In the field assigned for the XBRL Token Key, right-click your mouse (or Ctrl + V on your keyboard) to paste.
Once the Token has been copied in, select Validate.
You will then be asked to confirm which CAS 360 firm you are preparing XBRL Financial Statements for. If the firm listed is correct, then check the box to confirm.
If the firm is not correct, press Cancel. Ensure you have generated the token from the right firm and try again.
If you need to re-enter these details at a later stage, select the Settings icon in the XBRL tool.
Remove your CAS 360 username and re-run the application for the right firm from CAS 360.
Preparing Financial Statements and Notes
Once the user has entered the CAS XBRL application, the user has two options:
Option 1 – To create a new set of XBRL Financial Statements – this will generate the taxonomy, and the tool will begin to retrieve existing company information from CAS 360. This is activated by clicking on the ‘New’ icon.
Option 2 – To load an existing XBRL file. This file could have been previously started in the CAS XBRL application or even loaded from BizFin. To load an existing set of XBRL Financial Statements, click on the ‘Open’ icon.
Note: If importing a file from the prior year, select Balance Forward to move all current financial year details to the next year.
Before proceeding, review the settings. From the Ribbon Toolbar, select Settings.
This will allow users to customise the rounding and printing preferences for the Financial Statements.
Select the blue tick to save.
Opening up the XBRL Tool, users will first be prompted to the Filing Information section. Complete this section first, as it will determine the templates to be generated in the subsequent sections.
BGL’s XBRL tool will support:
- Full Financial Statements
- Financial Statement Highlights
- All different accounting standards (SFRS, SFRS for small entities, IFRS and Other)
- First financial statements or subsequent
Any Changes to the Filing information section will need to be confirmed by selecting the Tab key on your keypad. CAS XBRL will automatically refresh the filing information and apply the selected taxonomy changes.
Select and
to move to the next item in the reports panel.
Users can move along the left-hand menu. All mandatory items will be in bold.
The mandatory fields within these sections are indicated with the icon
You will now be able to work through the reports and update the required fields.
In order to attach the complete set of financial statements in CAS XBRL, navigate to Disclosures | Full Set of Financial Statements and select the Pencil Icon 
Next, you will need to copy and paste the text directly from your Financial Statements into the Text Editor screen.
Use the shortcut keys to assist:
- Ctrl +A to Select All,
- Ctrl + C to copy and
- Ctrl + V to Paste into CAS XBRL.
All standard formatting from the original document will come across to the text editor. If further formatting is required, use the toolbar in the text editor.
Select the blue tick to save.
Users are in complete control of editing the Financial Statements and Notes.
Once users have entered the amount for each item on the financial statements, the total will automatically calculate. For statements such as the statement of financial position, the tool will also notify the user when the statement is out of balance.
Notes
To add financial details to a note, click Add note (detail). Notes can be used to enter the breakdown for the item.
Show/Hide Columns
Some reports allow users to select the columns that will appear in the financial statements. This is done by clicking on the Show / Hide Columns button at the top of the screen.
The show/hide columns function is important in the financial statement preparation process as it will dictate how other notes on the financial statement will be formatted.
Simply select the items relevant to the company as per the Financial Statements.
Select the blue tick to save.
Filters
To filter statements on current or prior years, use the period select menu on the right-hand side of the XBRL tool.
Use the search function on the left-hand side of the XBRL tool. Simply type the keywords to perform a search across all statements and notes.
When using CAS XBRL for the first time, you will need to set up the company labels. However, if you have a company label template (XML file), you can load this into the tool instead of manually typing in the company labels.
How to Create a Company Label Template
Select any one of the statements or notes to enter Company Label:
Click Save.
Once complete, you can save the template in XML format for future years.
From the Ribbon Toolbar, select the Import tools tab and then click Save Company Label Template.
How to Load a Company Label Template
If you are loading an existing XML file, select the relevant statement or notes, and from the Ribbon Toolbar, select Import Tools.
From Import Tools, select Load Company Template
Locate the file and select Open.
CAS will now import all Company Labels for the relevant statement or notes.
The import tool will also use the company label to find matches to automatically import.
Auto-Tagging & Using the CAS XBRL Import Tool
CAS XBRL Import Tool incorporates a key feature of Auto Tagging, which will match your financial data and reduce the time spent on manual data entry. For more information, click here.
Users are able to click on Save at the top of the XBRL screen.
This will prompt the user with two options.
- Validate and Export – This will complete the full validation of the XBRL financial statements and prepare an export file that can be lodged with ACRA (BGL’s export is compatible with the offline BizFin tool)
- Export Only – This will not complete the validation and just prepare an export file. This file can be re-imported in CAS XBRL to continue data entry.
Important note – BGL’s XBRL application does not keep any of the data entered. In order to save an XBRL set of financials in progress, this must be exported.
Validate & Upload
Before submission to ACRA, the XBRL financial statements need to be validated against a set of business rules. As a preparer, you will need to perform a review of your XBRL financial statements to ensure accurate and complete information is provided.
Click Validate
The tool will run a validation check and produce a report of validation errors to be rectified within CAS XBRL.
- Genuine Errors: These errors must be rectified. However, if you confirm the XBRL data is correct, apply for exemption from the specific business rule. Upon online validation, where the error is indicated as granted exemption / not applicable, no further action is required.
- Possible Errors: XBRL data might contain an error. If you confirm the XBRL data is incorrect, rectify it. Otherwise, no further action is required.
Once the validation has passed, users will be prompted to acknowledge that the XBRL data is accurate and complete. Select Upload, and the data will be uploaded straight to ACRA.
Alternatively, once the validation has passed or errors have been granted an exemption, users can file the financial statements using ACRA's preparation tool.
Click Save to export the XML file
Select Upload to ACRA
Users will be taken to the ACRA website to download the preparation tool, where users can validate the XBRL Financial Statements (XML file) and upload with ACRA.
Upload XBRL Financial Statements
Users also have the option to upload XBRL Financial Statements prepared outside or using
The CAS 360 XBRL Tool to file directly with ACRA.
| From the Main Toolbar, go to Returns | |
| Select Singapore Returns |
Select beside a company and select Upload XBRL Financial Statements.
FAQs
1. My company does not appear on the Annual Return Screen.
Annual Returns can be prepared for companies after their financial year-end date, noted on General Details. Once the date is passed, the companies will appear on the Annual Return Screen.
The following company status will also hide the company from preparing Annual Returns:
- Struck-Off
- Inactive
- Liquidated
- Closed
If all is met, in the Annual Return screen, ensure that the Annual Return Date filter ranges to the company's annual return due date: