Lennar Corporation became the first to make a filing using the SEC’s newly permitted Inline XBRL format in this Form 10-Q.

The SEC permitted use of the new format in an order dated June 13, 2016.   Inline XBRL requires embedding XBRL data in the text of a filing rather than tagging data in a separate instance document filed as an exhibit.  The SEC believes Inline XBRL may increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the filing preparation and review process and, by saving time and effort spent on the these processes, may, over time, reduce the cost of compliance with XBRL requirements.  In particular, the SEC believes that Inline XBRL makes it possible for preparers to view XBRL meta data within the HTML filing itself. By facilitating the review of XBRL data, the SEC believe that Inline XBRL could decrease the overall time required to comply with the XBRL data filing requirement and may better equip preparers to detect and correct XBRL data errors.

The SEC also believes permitting filing in the Inline XBRL format is intended to improve XBRL data quality. In particular, the elimination of a separate instance document should reduce the incidence of re-keying errors. Additionally, Inline XBRL might eliminate unnecessary or inappropriate custom tags intended to make XBRL data look similar to an HTML document when “rendered” by software into a human-readable presentation. With Inline XBRL, companies would have less of an incentive to create custom tags solely to mimic the appearance of an HTML filing. To the extent that permitting filing using Inline XBRL might improve data quality, it may contribute to wider use of XBRL data by market participants and may enhance the benefits that are associated with XBRL more generally.

While I was initially confused by the SEC order and its benefits, viewing the Lennar example makes it much more understandable.