Financial reports: Why you need XBRL

✍ Scribed by Royce D. Burnett; Mark Friedman; Uday Murthy

• Book ID: 102296940
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 110 KB
• Volume: 17
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1044-8136
• DOI: 10.1002/jcaf.20229

✦ Synopsis

In today's business environment, the CFO faces several issues relative to the financial reporting process and its outcomes. There is pressure to reduce the cost of reporting while simultaneously improving efficiency. More diverse sets of stakeholder groups are demanding that information about business operations be more transparent, easy to access, and timely. These groups often choose the Internet as their preferred medium of communication and desire that as much information as possible be placed on the firm's Web site. However, CFOs are often criticized because the financial and reporting information made available on Web sites may not be valuable to stakeholders. Consequently, CFOs are faced with deciding what accounting information to place on a Web site and the format and presentation of the information provided. CFOs must consider regulations, such as Sarbanes-Oxley, that remind them of the possibility of More companies are using the Internet to report accounting and financial information. Using eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) makes that job easier. But few CFOs know much about XBRL-or how it can relieve some of the reporting pressures they face. The authors discuss the basics of XBRL, how a CFO can evaluate it, and how XBRL can improve efficiency, cut costs, and guide regulatory compliance.