Missing Line Items in iXBRL data

Bulk Data Requests
1

Hi,

I noticed when parsing the data of a few companies that certain line items were missing from the iXBRL data versus the accounts when viewed as html.

For example, when looking at filing Prod223_3379_00138114_20220531.html (found in http://download.companieshouse.gov.uk/Accounts_Bulk_Data-2023-02-24.zip), balances for ‘Current Assets’ or ‘Prepayments and accrued income’ appear:

image
image2422×128 9.28 KB

However, when looking at the iXBRL data, only the following line items are present:

Creditors
NetCurrentAssetsLiabilities
TotalAssetsLessCurrentLiabilities
NetAssetsLiabilities
AverageNumberEmployeesDuringPeriod

Please could someone advise why this is the case?

Thanks,
Jason

2

My theory is that it is either human error or the software used to prepare the IXBRL files. There are plenty of white label IXBRL solutions available, each with varying levels of quality.

I had the pleasure of reading through a boat load of IXBRL files when I was building https://convert-ixbrl.co.uk, which is an API to convert Companies House IXBRL to Excel and JSON and to find UK companies based on IXBRL data.

The file you have referred to does look a bit unusual in terms of its xhtml content, making me think it is the latter, i.e. it was created and was ‘valid enough’ to pass the validation tool check but missing certain pieces of data. I also had a look through the Feb 24 which looks fine.

4

Did you find some open source library to parse the ixbrl data?

5

I did look into the available libraries but then ended up having to build my own (reasons in my medium post How I built an IXBRL Converter for Companies House | by Hasham @ Convert-IXBRL.co.uk | FastUKCompanySearch | Nov, 2024 | Medium)

6

Ye i would hate having to write my own parser, would be a lot of work to maintain.

Luckily i did come across an open source library which is active. Will have to wait and see if i come across any issues