The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a draft EDGAR filer manual Volume II to explain the upcoming changes in its online filing system, EDGAR, following an earlier version upgrade implemented by the Commission. Changes are expected to take effect beginning Nov. 13.

In the bulletin released by the Commission today, it said the draft filer manual, posted before the Commission approved potential regulatory changes in the release, is provided as a service to the filing community to assist filers, agents, and software developers with preparing for potential changes anticipated by SEC staff.

The Commission outlined the changes on EDGAR to be implemented in two phases. The first phase will take place on Nov. 21, when its filing system EDGAR Release 11.3, will introduce five form types recognized for interactive data, including 10-KT, 10-KT/A, 10-QT, 10-QT/A, and POS AM. Other technical changes include text clarity in form submission and XBLR (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) documents that will require additional validations.

The second phase is scheduled to take effect on Dec. 12 and will address some minor formatting changes in field values required by the system when companies want to file their documents through EDGAR.

XBRL is an interactive reporting method that enables desktop computers to read financial information and use it in analytical tools. Filers must select tags from the U.S. GAAP taxonomy that best describe their myriad financial reporting concepts, then attach them to their specific financial data to submit their financial information via XBRL.