Contents
What are duplicate mapping errors?
Why do duplicate mapping errors occur?
Duplicate Mapping error examples:
- Example 1 - Tags can appear more than once if the context is different
- Example 2 - Tags can appear more than once if the value is the same everywhere the tag is used
- Example 3 - Tags cannot appear more than once if the context is the same and/or the value is not the same everywhere the tag is used
- Example 4 - Preparer-set attributes can change the value
- Example 5 - Members and the Statement of Changes in Equity table
- Example 6 - Reporting Periods and Instant tags – Statement of Changes in Equity and Statement of Cash Flows
- Example 7 - Row name/label of the element is different
How can I find duplicate mapping errors?
How do I solve my duplicate mapping errors?
User Questions
What are duplicate mapping errors?
Duplicate mapping errors are one of the most common validation errors you will see when tagging your report. These are critical errors that mean you can not file your report as a valid ESEF report and must be fixed. They are visually displayed in your table with a red triangle in the corner of the affected cells.
Why do duplicate mapping errors occur?
Duplicate mappings occur because:
- a tag appears more than once in a report; and
- doesn’t meet one of these exceptions:
- the context is different; or
- the value is the same everywhere the tag is used.
The contexts of a tag are the date period the tag applies to, the label name and the column that the tag is in. The values of a tag are its numerical value, scale and SignLogic. Please be aware that the row name in the table is not relevant - only the chosen tag, its contexts and values.
Example 1 - Tags can appear more than once if the context is different
Let’s look at this example using the Revenue tag:
Here we can see that the Revenue tag is applied twice, once in the 2020 column and once in the 2019 column. This satisfies the first exception - the context (i.e. the year) is different. It makes sense that there is a revenue value for 2020 and a separate revenue value for 2019 and that they are different and that they both need the Revenue tag. When using the Tagger, it will automatically apply tags to the whole row because this is a valid way of mapping.
Example 2 - Tags can appear more than once if the value is the same everywhere the tag is used
In this example, let’s imagine that the Profit (loss), attributable to ordinary equity holders of the parent entity tag has been used twice in two different tables: the Balance Sheet and the Consolidated Income Statement table. In both cases, the value is reported as 179.
This satisfies the second exception - the value is the same in both places that the tag appears.
It makes sense that you could tag the same line item and figure with the same single tag as many times as it appeared in your report.
Example 3 - Tags cannot appear more than once if the context is the same and/or the value is not the same everywhere the tag is used
In this example, we can see that both of these line items have the tag Dividends paid, classified as operating activities applied:
This breaks our exception rules because:
- The context for each tag is the same (i.e. they both appear in the same year column); and
- The values are not the same everywhere the tag is used (i.e. one is -6,681 and the other is -1).
This will create a duplicate mapping error. The tagger is asking how it is possible for the Dividends paid, classified as operating activities to be both -6,681 and -1 for this year.
Example 4 - Preparer-set attributes can change the value
For every tag a preparer can set the following attributes:
- Scale: The number of zeros added after a number
- SignLogic: How the tagger should handle negative numbers
- Number or date format: How the tagger handles fractions separators (i.e. is it a comma, period, or text unit) and dashes used to mean zero.
In example 2 above, we saw that the Profit (loss), attributable to ordinary equity holders of the parent entity tag could be used twice because the value, 179, was the same in both cells. However, if we were to change the scale, or SignLogic properties for one of those tags we would get a duplicate mapping error. This breaks our second exception rule: the values are not the same everywhere the tag is used. You will need to make sure the Scale, SignLogic and Number/Date formats are the same for the affected cells by using the Table Cell Properties tab in the bottom left-hand corner.
The table below shows examples of how changing the Scale and SignLogic properties affects how the value of a cell is reported:
| Scale | SignLogic | |
|---|---|---|
| Value in first instance | 6 (millions) | None |
| Result | 179,000,000 | 179,000,000 |
| Value in second instance | 3 (thousands) | Always Negative |
| Result | 179,000 | -179,000,000 |
| Tagger Logic | How can the value be 179 million in one place and 179 thousand in another? | How can the value be positive in one place and negative in another? |
Example 5 - Members and the Statement of Changes in Equity table
Statement of Changes in Equity tables have both rows and columns, which we called line items and members respectively.
When tagging your Statement of Changes in Equity table, you must tag both the line items and the members otherwise you will get a Duplicate Mapping error.
It is easy to see if you have tagged both the line items/rows and members/columns in the Tagger. Simply click on a cell and then look at the Tags tab below. Correctly tagged equity cells will have two entries here.
In the screenshot below, Opening balance, Jan 1, Profit for the year, and Other comprehensive income for the year etc. need line item tags and Share Capital, Other paid-in capital and Hedging reserve etc. need member tags.
You can easily find member tags by searching for [member] in the filter. You can also expand folder 610000 of the taxonomy to find the Statement of Changes in Equity table member tags.
Example 6 - Reporting Periods and Instant tags – Statement of Changes in Equity and Statement of Cash Flows
One of the most important contexts is the date period that the tags apply to. For example, in the Consolidated Income Statement report, the table is divided into year columns. When we create
a new tag, the Tagger is able to automatically apply the correct date range to those columns
(e.g. 01-01-2018 to 31-12-2018 for the 2018 column).
The Statement of Changes in Equity table has an additional complication: the first and last rows are usually values reported on a specific day as shown in this simplified screenshot:
To avoid a duplicate mapping error here, we need to specify the date range for the first and last rows. We do this by selecting the whole row, opening the Table Cell Properties tab and changing the date range. In the case of the first row in the example image, we would need the start and end dates to both be 01/01/2019; for the last row both would need to be 31/12/2019.
The same issue can be seen in the Cash and Cash Equivalents rows on most Statement of Cash Flows tables.
Example 7 - Row name/label of the element is different
It is possible that tags will legitimately appear in multiple places but have different row labels. For example, we might have a row called Equity Closing Balance in the Changes in Equity table, and one called Total Equity for the year in the Balance Sheet. If both of these are tagged with ifrs-full:Equity, they will have different label names and this will cause a duplicate mapping error.
To fix this, open the Table Cell Properties tab and scroll down to the Label of the Element field. Make sure that the text here is the same everywhere the tag appears. Best practice is to copy and paste the text from one Label of the Element field into the others to make sure there are no extra spaces or formatting.
Please be aware that you do not need to use the automatically generated Label of the Element text. You can click in the box and type any text you want. In the example above, you may prefer to use Total Equity for every appearance of this tag as it has a broader meaning that the Labels automatically generated from the row name. It is still recommended that you type this in one place and then copy/paste it to any other locations.
How can I find duplicate mapping errors?
You can easily see Duplicate Mapping errors in the table itself. Duplicate Mappings are critical errors (i.e. you can not file this report as a valid ESEF report). They are visually displayed in your table with a red triangle in the corner of the affected cells.
When viewing the validation errors window, Duplicate Mappings will all be categorised together. You can double click any of the errors and the Tagger will highlight the affected cell. In the Excel validation report, Duplicate Mappings will be grouped together. In both cases, the affected cells will be grouped together so you can easily find the cells to which the specific Duplicate Mapping error applies.
How do I solve my duplicate mapping errors?
Duplicate Mapping errors can feel overwhelming at first, especially if you have a lot of them. We recommend you use the following list to understand why they have occurred and what steps need to be taken to resolve them:
- Have I used the same tag more than once?
- If not, do I need an extension and anchor?
- Contact your auditors for more specific advice
- Is there a different tag I could/should apply to one of these cells?
- Value - if not, refer to Step 1 (is there a different tag I could/should apply?) above
- Date period - if not, this can be changed in the Table Cell Properties tab
- Scale - if not, this can be changed in the Table Cell Properties tab
- SignLogic - if not, this can be changed in the Table Cell Properties tab
- Label of the Element - if not, this can be changed in the Table Cell Properties tab
- Have I added a member tag to each column?
- Have I set the date period correctly for the first and last row, or any other instant tags? If not, this can be changed in the Table Cell Properties tab
User Questions
Can duplicate mapping errors be caused if I use the same tag in different tables?
Each tag should have one consistent value within a consistent context (i.e. date period) wherever it appears in the report. Whether you organise each statement into its own tagger chapter, or have all the statements in one chapter (as advised above on page 6), you are tagging your complete financial statements (i.e. the six documents listed on page 6), and the values attached to your tags apply to the whole report. So if you have used the Revenue tag in the 2018 column of the Consolidated Income Statement with the value of 100, but then used the Revenue tag again in the 2018 column of any of the other statements with a value that isn’t 100, you will receive a duplicate mapping error. Either Revenue for 2018 is or isn’t 100.
Why do I have to add member tags to the Statement of Changes in Equity table?
Unlike the other tables in your report, the Statement of Changes in Equity table is a matrix (i.e. it has both rows and columns). You must tag these columns with the correct member tag otherwise you will get a duplicate mapping error for every cell in that column.