XBRL & ESEF
XBRL taxonomy
Also known as: Reporting taxonomy · Filing taxonomy
The dictionary and rule set of an XBRL reporting framework: the concepts available to report, their labels and data types, their relationships, and the validation rules.
What it means
An XBRL taxonomy is the “dictionary and rule set” of a reporting framework. It defines the concepts available for reporting and gives software what it needs to interpret the facts: multi-language labels, links to authoritative definitions, data types, relationships (organised in linkbases: presentation, calculation, definition, label and reference), and validation rules.
Examples include the IFRS Accounting Taxonomy, the ESEF taxonomy, the Danish annual-report taxonomies, and the EFRAG ESRS taxonomy for sustainability reporting.
How it relates to nearby concepts
A company can build an extension taxonomy on top of a base taxonomy when it needs concepts the base does not provide, and must anchor those extensions back to it.
Common misunderstandings
- “XBRL taxonomy” and “EU Taxonomy” are the same kind of thing: They are unrelated. An XBRL taxonomy is a reporting dictionary; the EU Taxonomy is a classification of green economic activities.
Statera validates against the report's taxonomy before filing. See the ESEF framework:
ESEF Digital Filing →Sources
Last reviewed: 19 June 2026
See how Statera handles this in practice
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