XBRL: users and shareholders benefit.

• Author: Adams, Greg
• Position: FinancialREPORTING

EDGAR Online and FEI held a webcast, "XBRL: What's In It For Me?" in March on the basics of how eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) will impact a financial executive's daily workflow. It opened with a discussion on the emergence of XBRL as the global standard for financial reporting, its adoption in the U.S. and why it's important to understand XBRL's current and future impact.

Financial executives are under tremendous pressure to comply with rules and regulations from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and others to rebuild public trust. Internal fiduciary integrity is not enough, and peer-to-peer and industry analysis must be performed by both the corporate finance department and independently by the audit firm. Companies must identify competitors, locate source documents, copy and paste key data points and verify their accuracy, run variance analysis and then confirm or modify internal statements based on the results of this intensive review. That's where XBRL can help.

XBRL is an information format that has a firm footing outside the U.S. and is rapidly gaining ground domestically. It is a standard for preparing, transmitting and analyzing financial information. It offers cost savings, greater efficiency and improved accuracy and reliability to all those involved in supplying or using financial data. It enables deeper analysis because its format or "taxonomy" provides the most granular level possible. Ultimately, the speed and depth of data provided by mapping information to the XBRL standard provides the transparency demanded by stakeholders in the new regulatory environment.

XBRL is a globally agreed-upon...