Design principles for Standard Business Reporting (SBR) taxonomy development: Evidence from Finland

Abstract

Standard Business Reporting (SBR) is a consolidated reporting model for the digital transmission of financial data to several statutory bodies. It requires the development of a national taxonomy, which facilitates the joint tax, statistics and financial reporting through a common government gateway, thus reducing the administrative burden of statutory reporting. An SBR program is a complex and innovative project that requires the co-ordination of public and private constituencies. Drawing on the findings of a longitudinal study in the Finnish SBR program, we contribute to the literature by identifying a set of design principles for SBR taxonomy development: (1) competence, (2) win-win-win vision, (3) multi-channel communication, (4) intelligent scope, (5) expertise commitment, (6) track record, and (7) co-creation. These principles were derived from an inductive analysis of empirical data collected from multiple sources. Our findings offer a guide that will be useful to other jurisdictions embarking on similar SBR initiatives.