XBRL Background

Advances in technology in recent decades has been providing accounting world a new digital platform for the financial statement information . When companies produce their own software applications , such as document output ( balance sheet , income statement , statement of changes in equity , statement of changes in equity , etc ) , which unfortunately can not be read directly by different applications . It is caused by any application where the data in different formats . In general , this problem has been overcome by exporting the file in ASCII format ( American Standard Code for Information Interchange ) , which is a text file with each data field separated by a character such restrictions comma ( , ) , so it is possible to retrieve the original ASCII file to another application . However , the solution can be said to be less efisiesn because the process takes a long time , because it is often necessary modifications export ASCII files when the application does not use the delimiting character . As a result , it can cause data to be skewed and placed in the wrong table . Another solution is to setup a special application for converting data between the two applications , but the best solution is to use a standard data exchange . Needs of the digital standard for exchanging accounting information between software applications from many financial report published in various formats such as pdf , xls , html , doc , etc. .

To answer the various problems above , it established a standard known as XBRL , which is widely accepted by the international accounting community . XBRL was developed by http://www.xbrl.org , is a consortium [ 1 ] companies and international organizations , and sponsored by the AICPA ( American Institute of Certified Public Accountants ) . Member organizations include major accounting and consulting firms – large firms , as well as institutions such as the IASB ( International Accounting Standards Board ) , IMA ( Institute of Management Accountants ) , CICA ( Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants ) , and the ICAEW ( Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales ) .

A Brief History of XML and XBRL

XML ( Extensible Markup Language ) is a method to add structure and context for unstructured information . XML is derived from the Standard Generalized Mark – up Language ( SGML ) , which is widely supported standard for over 15 years . XML is a fusion directly from SGML and HTML . Result of standardization will be a significant reduction in complexity and cost . Many different things that have been expressed in XML , such as XHTML is an XML version of HTML ; XMLEDI an attempt to reveal the EDI transactions using XML . XML is also a collection of elements and attributes that describe the information and data in the form of both human and computer language that can be understood and designed to be used via the Internet .

XBRL beginning with the early history of the XML 1.0 specification was released with in February 1998 . XBRL began in April 1998 with the use of XML to disclose financial statements . From that point, the AICPA ( American Institute of Certified Public Accountants ) was approached to spearhead the introduction of XBRL for what the world now . AICPA and Knight , Vale & Gregory , who is a CPA firm [ 2 ] which is funded by an initial prototype XBRL . The next few prototype called XFRML ( eXtensible Financial Reporting Markup Language ) and begin the XBRL international consortium , even before the first meeting of the XBRL consortium , led AICPA decided to pursue a business report as a broader scope that includes financial reporting therein . In September 1999, the first meeting took place XFRML consortium , has 13 members . Shortly thereafter , the name was changed to XBRL XFRML beginning . The first XBRL XBRL version 1.0 which was released in July 2000 . Taxonomy [ 3 ] The first was also released at that time , based on U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting for commercial and industrial companies . Responses were received which begin consortium down the street to create something that is more extensible than is possible with the XBRL 1.0 . maturing XML technology and XML Schema are available , such as XLink 1.0 . XBRL 2.0 was released in December 2001 .

Basic concepts of XML and XBRL

Before discussing how the XBRL concept is applied , it would be better if the reader knows the language which the XBRL XML itself. XML is a common global language is the standard which is short for eXtensible Markup Language . As defined by the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium ) , an XML format or information labeled “tags ” . XML format labels add meaning often exchanged information between users in the form of metadata , which is easily understood by the application software .

According to Charles Hoffman in his book , Financial Reporting Using XBRL , XBRL is stated that the financial reporting chain infrastructure providers will plug into the semantic web and benefit attached . It also helps the accountant sees a vision of what tomorrow XBRL as improved software , and more XBRL put into the actual workflow of the financial reporting supply chain .

XBRL is a member of a family of languages ​​based on XML , which is the standard for electronic data interchange between companies in the internet media . In XML , identifying tags are applied to items of data so that they can be processed efficiently by computer software .

XBRL is a powerful and flexible version of XML which has been defined specifically to meet the needs of business and financial information . This allows a unique identification tag to be applied to financial data items , such as net income . However , this is more than just a simple identifier . XBRL provides a variety of information about the item , such as whether the monetary item , percentage or fraction . XBRL allows labels in any language to be applied to each item , as well as accounting references or other supporting information .

XBRL can show how items are related to one another . Can thus represent how they are calculated . It can also identify whether they fall into particular groups or organizations for the purpose of presentation . Most importantly , XBRL easily extensible , so companies and other organizations can tailor to meet the specific requirements .

XBRL users in general may be largely or completely aware of the technical infrastructure that supports language program . However , software companies , such as accounting software providers , need to take into XBRL and its features when producing their products .

Although the so-called business reporting language that can be disseminated , XBRL is actually a standard for electronic distribution and exchange of business and financial information . This information describes the use of XBRL ” tags ” that works like a bar code , and defines each data using a number called a dictionary called taxonomy . Any organization or individual who would like to apply , read and process this tag requires software that has been specifically designed or modified for the purpose, XBRL can make it easier to deal with different items of financial information , in the same bar code makes it easier to handle or manage assets of financial reporting chain .

foot note
[ 1 ] the set of some businessmen who held a joint effort

[ 2 ] It is now part of RSM McGladrey

[ 3 ] classification of sciences ; rules and principles which include object classification

 Reference :

Hoffman, C. 2006 Financial Reporting Using XBRL IFRS and US GAAP Edition UB Matrix Inc, United States

Hoffman and Egmond, 2012 Digital Financial Reporting Using an XBRL-Based Model Creative Commons License, United States



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