Inline Extensible Business Reporting Language as the European Single Electronic Format and its Influence in the Slovak Republic

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) pointed out in its statement dated 21 December 2016 the digital format, which issuers in the European Union (EU) must use to report their company information as of 1 January 2020. ESMA stated that this European Single Electronic Format (ESEF) will be the Inline Extensible Business Reporting Language (iXBRL). The main reason for adoption of the iXBRL is its readability for machines and humans alike. The aim of this paper is to explore possible influence of its adoption on issuers operating in the Slovak Republic with the obligation to prepare and report consolidated financial statements in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). ESMA has received a variety of opinions from diverse groups of stakeholders in the process of adoption of the ESEF, implying that different European countries in different stages of economic development perceive its adoption in opposing ways and this correlates with previous findings about the usage of the Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) in relation to the development status of any given economy in the EU. Businesses and other stakeholders in the countries with more developed economies overall tend to accept and adopt the XBRL or iXBRL, while businesses and other stakeholders in less developed economies tend to reject and not to adopt the XBRL or iXBRL, with few exceptions of course.