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I'm trying to find calculation relationships for concepts in a relation group from SEC eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) filings.

An example is this amazon filing: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1018724/000101872420000004/0001018724-20-000004-index.htm

I've looked into the calculation linkbase linked from the filing - and it looks like each calculation group doesn't contain all elements present in the corresponding presentation group.

My understanding is, almost all filers take the standard calculation relationships for their industry from the GAAP taxonomy and modify it to their needs and this modified hierarchy is included in the filing.

But I haven't been able to locate the complete modified hierarchy for the tables. Any help on how to do that is appreciated.

B--rian
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DebD
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  • It would be helpful if you could edit-in some [code-snippet we could focus on](https://stackoverflow.com/help/minimal-reproducible-example). According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XBRL#Calculation_Linkbase there seems to be some info on what is exactly used for calculation. I guess you checked that already, did you? – B--rian May 12 '20 at 13:58
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    Yes, I know how to read a calculation linkbase. What I'm looking for however, is how to find the applicable calc linkbase. – DebD May 12 '20 at 14:41
  • What exactly do you mean by "find the applicable calc linkbase"? Do you mean that the given link points no-where? – B--rian May 13 '20 at 07:30
  • I have to confess that I never used XBRL before, but XML and finance I know... – B--rian May 13 '20 at 07:35
  • I found https://www.xbrl.org/wgn/xbrl-formula-overview/pwd-2011-12-21/xbrl-formula-overview-wgn-pwd-2011-12-21.html#example-syntax19 very insightful, or do I [bring coal to Newcastle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coals_to_Newcastle) with that? – B--rian May 13 '20 at 07:37

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The XBRL Requirements for Calculations 2.0 is the official documentation on advanced calculation features:

This document provides requirements for an expansion to the calculations features of XBRL to:

  • Accommodate the distinct requirements of modeling of calculation relationships in taxonomies and the validation of fact instance data.

  • Address the issue of calculation inconsistencies due to calculations being applied to incomplete sets of facts.

  • Model relationships between facts that represent balances that accumulate changes from any prior balances over a time interval.

  • Model aggregation of numeric facts across dimensions.

  • Use interval arithmetic for checking calculations involving rounded numbers.

  • Calculate missing subtotals in calculation hierarchies.

  • Facilitate extensions to base taxonomy calculation relationships.

I agree it is a rather lengthy document (plus it refers to several others), but this might be a good starting point for you, in particular the last bullet points.

Community
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B--rian
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  • If you could expand your question a bit according to my questions in the comments, I will adjust my answer here as well. – B--rian May 14 '20 at 14:52
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    Thanks. This does not really solve my problem but appreciated nevertheless. As you can see this is the specification for the XBRL calc file. On top of the xbrl spec, filers follow conventions/guidelines by the regulatory entity to create xbrl filings. For US companies, it's the SEC. What I'm looking for is a way to find which calculation linkbase to use along with a filing - each filing includes a calc linkbase but an incomplete one(?). I believe they somehow link to one of the standard calc lbs in the US GAAP XBRL taxonomy but cannot find how. I'll accept this answer as there are none else. – DebD May 15 '20 at 10:06
  • @DebD The way I understand it is that each XBRL file comes with its own calc linkbase. So if all US companies are following a certain calculation standard, I would agree with you: Each of the XBRL files will probably contain a part of it, but even if you have many XBRLs, you cannot be sure that you have the complete calculation rule set - so my guess. – B--rian May 15 '20 at 12:19