XBRL

Next XBRL Hurdle Approaches

May 22, 2012

Come June 15, as many as 7,000 non-accelerated filers will need to imbed all financial statements, including footnotes, with the XBRL interactive data tags. Plenty of companies are finding the undertaking to be daunting and a drain on resources. "It's like the days of Sarbanes-Oxley," says Ron Baden, chief customer officer at financial applications provider Host Analytics. "They're scared to death." Details inside.
 

SEC Explores Option for 2-in-1 Filing Method

May 14, 2012

The SEC is considering a simplification to the financial report filing process by allowing companies to file under a single method, known as in-line XBRL, which allows companies to include XBRL tags on HTML documents. Currently, companies must file under the traditional HTML format and the XBRL format separately.
 

SEC Approves 2012 GAAP Taxonomy for XBRL Filings

March 30, 2012

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the 2012 U.S. GAAP financial reporting taxonomy as updated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, giving companies the green light to use it for their XBRL filing obligations in 2012. The update reflects various changes to accounting standards since the 2011 taxonomy was published.
 

FASB, IFRS Foundation Unveil Latest Taxonomies

January 19, 2012

It's not official yet, but the 2012 U.S. GAAP taxonomy is available for public consumption, reflecting changes that occurred as a result of the draft and comment process. The SEC still needs to give its final blessing to the new taxonomy; no date has been set for that. A draft of the XBRL taxonomy for IFRS standards is also available.
 

SEC Updates Staff Concerns on XBRL Filings

December 14, 2011

XBRL filings continue to contain some of the same basic mistakes that staff members at the Securities and Exchange Commission have pointed out previously, so the staff refreshed its observations in a more recent update.
 

SEC Calls for Patience on Realizing Benefits of Move to XBRL

December 13, 2011

An SEC official told accountants that it will take another two to three years for XBRL to be fully implemented and asked those who have bemoaned its cost and utility for patience. Mike Starr, deputy chief accountant for policy support and market monitoring at the SEC, recently said the benefits will eventually become apparent. "Changes of this magnitude take time," he said.
 

Bracing for XBRL Liability

November 01, 2011

Companies with market caps of more than $5 billion began submitting their financial statements in the interactive data format known as XBRL two years ago. Now the transitional period is ending, opening these companies up to litigation and additional regulatory scrutiny. Worse, there is no audit standard for XBRL to assure the accuracy of their filings. More details inside.
 

AICPA Guidance Seeks to Help Focus XBRL Reviews

October 19, 2011

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants is looking for more feedback on its proposed guidance to establish criteria for auditors to follow when evaluating information in XBRL. Because no regulatory requirement exists for auditors to review XBRL filings for accuracy, there are no standards from the SEC or the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.
 

XBRL Enters the Final Phase

August 02, 2011

When public companies file their latest financial statements in coming weeks, almost all of them will be required to use the XBRL tagging system for interactive data. The smallest companies have had three years to prepare, but many still struggle with the technology. "I'd say a lot of the smaller, 'Wave 3' companies are still pushing this off," says Raul Varela, vice president at Rivet Software.
 

Contest Seeks to Inspire Tools to Leverage XBRL Data

July 19, 2011

The XBRL US consortium is offering cash, including a $20,000 grand prize, to developers of XBRL tools for end users. The contest, called the XBRL Challenge, is accepting submissions through January 2012 for desktop applications that enable users to extract XBRL data for multi-company comparison.
 

SEC Staff Offers New Advice on XBRL Filings

June 24, 2011

Staff members at the SEC say they have been satisfied with interactive data financial reports they've reviewed so far, but they still have some suggestions for improvements. Areas of concern include how the statements are formatted, how negative values are tagged, and how issuers decide when to use a custom extension rather than a predefined tag.
 

XBRL Users Get New Functionality in Taxonomy

June 17, 2011

Regardless of a company's experience in using XBRL to file financial statements, there's a little something for everyone in a new taxonomy feedback system launched by the Financial Accounting Standards Board.
 

IFRS Foundation Delivers Taxonomy Upgrade

June 07, 2011

The IFRS Foundation has published a proposed supplement to its 2011 taxonomy for XBRL filers, the first of two promised improvements intended to satisfy the Securities and Exchange Commission's demands for a more robust taxonomy for use in the United States.
 

SEC Offers Tips, Resources to Phase 3 XBRL Filers

May 19, 2011

The SEC is offering fresh guidance to all those small companies out there facing the agency's June deadline for filing financial reports using XBRL, based on what it's seen in XBRL submissions so far. The SEC is urging companies to select tags carefully and search for existing tags before using a custom one. More inside.
 

International Filers May Get Reprieve on XBRL Reporting Deadline

April 19, 2011

Foreign private issuers that file in the United States using International Financial Reporting Standards are likely to get a reprieve on a looming deadline to start using XBRL technology in their financial reports, because the SEC has yet to approve a taxonomy for IFRS filers. Consider it one more challenge as the United States moves toward global accounting standards. Details inside.
 

IFRS Filers May Get Reprieve on XBRL Compliance

April 12, 2011

Companies that file financial statements in the United States using International Financial Reporting Standards may be getting a pass on the requirement that filers adopt the XBRL interactive-data format for statements filed after June 15. The SEC noted in a letter that it has yet to approve the IFRS taxonomy, making compliance impossible. Details inside.
 

As XBRL Evolves, Unique Tags Threaten Its Usefulness

March 01, 2011

Three years into the SEC's mandate to "tag" corporate financial data using XBRL, companies are still using an abundance of extensions—self-created tags that thwart XBRL's supposed ease of comparability. Regulators are pushing the next wave of adopters to do a better job of matching data to existing tags. Details Inside.
 

United Kingdom Refuses to Change iXBRL Deadline

February 09, 2011

The U.K. government has rejected an eleventh-hour plea from the accounting profession that it delay the introduction of compulsory iXBRL filing of company returns, which is due to start from April 1.
 

XBRL Update: SEC Staff Review, Corporate Actions, More

November 12, 2010

For those wondering what's new in the world of interactive data, here's a roundup of the latest news and information.The Securities and Exchange Commission has posted some information that should be of interest to anyone involved in the preparation of their company's interactive data submissions in compliance with the Commission's...
 

New Interactive Data C&DIs

September 21, 2010

Filers with questions on complying with the Securities and Exchange Commission's XBRL mandate take note: The staff of the Division of Corporation Finance has updated a handful of interpretations relating to the interactive data rule.The five new Compliance & Disclosure Interpretations, added Sept. 17, relate to Regulation S-K and Regulation S-T.Question 146.14...
 

FAF Seeks Comment on 2011 Taxonomy Updates

September 01, 2010

Companies filing financial statements using XBRL will want to take a look at the proposed 2011 taxonomy, which has been updated to reflect the latest changes in accounting standards.The Financial Accounting Foundation has published the proposed 2011 U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy for a 60-day review and comment period before...
 

SEC Investor Advisory Committee to Meet May 17

May 11, 2010

Environmental, social, and governance disclosure issues, fiduciary duty as it relates to investment advisers and registered broker-dealers, investor education, and money market funds are among the items on the agenda for next week, when a committee created to offer input on investor concerns to the Securities and Exchange Commission holds...
 

XBRL U.S. Shows Common Errors, Checks Consistency

April 07, 2010

Information that might be of interest for those public companies preparing to comply with the Securities and Exchange Commission's XRBL mandate for the first time: A new white paper detailing some of the most common errors companies make related to XBRL U.S. GAAP Taxonomy rules.Since the SEC's mandate for companies...
 

SEC Adds New XBRL FAQs, More C&DI Updates

March 09, 2010

Companies and their counsel should take note: The Securities and Exchange Commission had added some new Frequently Asked Questions and updated some staff interpretations that you'll want to take a look at.The staff of the Office of Interactive Disclosure recently published six new FAQs related to the SEC's Interactive Data...
 

XBRL International, SEC Seeking Input on XBRL

March 01, 2010

For those with an interest in Extensible Business Reporting Language, or XBRL, two groups are currently seeking public input related to the standard.XBRL International Inc., the global consortium responsible for development and promotion of the business reporting standard, is seeking public comment on the future business requirements and technical roadmap...
 

SEC Shifts XBRL Maintenance to FASB and FAF

February 11, 2010

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and its overseer, the Financial Accounting Foundation, are forming a team to take over responsibility for managing XBRL taxonomies for U.S. financial reporting purposes.XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) is a technical language for communicating business information electronically. Taxonomies represent the dictionary for the language, mapping...
 

Poll Sheds Light on How Cos. Are Coping With XBRL

January 25, 2010

Public companies preparing to comply with the mandate to tag their financials in XBRL may have their work cut out for them initially, but it gets easier the second time around, according to recent survey of more than 200 public company executives.An SEC rule that took effect last year already...
 

Executives Want More KPIs in Financial Statements

October 23, 2009

Senior financial executives overwhelmingly think financial statements are too complicated for average investors to comprehend, but the addition of some non-financial key performance indicators to financial reports might be helpful.However, only about half of the U.S. executives who participated in a recent Grant Thornton survey said they actually provide investors...
 

FASB Links GAAP With XBRL Through Codification

October 14, 2009

The marriage of rules and data is beginning to take shape as the Accounting Standards Codification now includes some links to eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL).The Financial Accounting Standards Board has added some functionality to the Codification, which is the official electronic rulebook for all U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles,...
 

XBRL Update: Corp. Actions, Taxonomy Addendum, More

October 01, 2009

It's been busy in the interactive data arena for the last few weeks. Here's an update of the latest XBRL-related news.Efforts to improve the processing of corporate actions data in the U.S. by tagging those actions using XBRL are under way, with the creation of a stakeholder group to represent...
 

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