Using Bill of reference

A Bill of reference links a line item in a financial statement table to the corresponding notes to accounts section, enabling readers to navigate directly from a financial figure to its supporting disclosure.

About Bill of references

In IBM Controller Disclosure Management, a Bill of reference is a cross-reference that connects a specific row in a financial statement table such as an income statement or balance sheet to the corresponding notes to accounts section of the report.

When Bill of references are present, each referenced row in the financial statement table displays a Bill of number as a superscript or subscript. In the exported report output, this number acts as a hyperlink. When a reader clicks the Bill of reference number, the report navigates directly to the full content of the referenced notes.

Bill of references are driven by the note numbering system. Each note in the accounts section is assigned a sequential number based on its position in the Bill of reference list. The Bill of reference numbers displayed in financial statement tables correspond directly to these note sequence numbers.

How Bill of reference work

Bill of reference numbers are generated and maintained automatically based on the order of the notes in the Bill of reference to accounts section. The following behavior applies:

  • When notes are reordered in the Bill of reference to accounts section and saved, the note numbers are updated automatically throughout the report.
  • Any Bill of reference numbers displayed in financial statement tables are updated to reflect the new note order.
  • The update applies consistently across all statement tabs income statement, balance sheet, equity, cash flow, and other comprehensive income wherever a note reference is present.
Important: Bill of reference numbers in financial statement tables are always synchronized with the current note ordering. If you reorder notes, save the change and update the report preview to confirm that all Bill of reference numbers are correct before exporting the report.

Dependency on Bill of reference numbering

For Bill of references to appear in financial statement tables, the Include number option must be enabled in the Notes to accounts section. When Bill of numbering is enabled:

  • Each note is assigned a sequential number 1, 2, 3, and so on based on its position in the notes list.
  • The note number is displayed as a reference link in the corresponding column of the financial statement table.
  • Clicking the reference link in the exported report navigates the reader to the full note content.
Note: If note numbering is disabled, Bill of reference links will not appear in the financial statement tables.

Impact of reordering notes

Because Bill of reference numbers in financial statement tables are derived from the note sequence, the order in which notes appear in the Notes to accounts list directly affects the numbers displayed in the report.

For example, if a note that was previously assigned the number 4 is moved to the first position in the notes list and saved, it is reassigned the number 1. All financial statement tables that previously referenced note 4 will automatically display the reference as note 1 after the report preview is updated.

This behavior ensures that Bill of reference numbers in financial statements are always consistent with the note ordering in the Notes to accounts section.