XBRL-US Applauds the SEC's Incentive to Public Companies for Participation in the SEC Voluntary Filing Program for XBRL

 

NEW YORK, Jan. 25  -- XBRL-US, the US based arm of XBRL International, strongly supports the decision by the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) to provide an incentive to corporations that participate in the SEC's XBRL Voluntary Filing Program (VFP). The SEC intends to offer expedited reviews of registration statements and financial reports to those companies that volunteer to be part of the VFP. The primary incentives for corporate participants are in more effective communications with their analysts, investors and other stakeholders.

 

XBRL-US, in response to the expected increase in public companies interested in learning about and participating in the VFP, is making substantial educational and training resources freely available to help these companies understand the current problems associated with today's manual reporting supply chain and how to realize the benefits of XBRL. For more information on the XBRL-US training programs, please contact Karl Best, executive director, XBRL-US at 201/938-3920, xbrlus@xbrl.org.

 

XBRL, eXtensible Business Reporting Language, a business information reporting format designed to improve the exchange, aggregation, and analysis of corporate reporting through a unique tagging structure that provides interoperability, has grown in recognition since the SEC launched a voluntary filing program in February. The program is designed to allow public issuers and investment companies to file periodic reports using XBRL, as a supplement to their official filing. Through the program, the SEC will evaluate the benefits of XBRL by reviewing the available software and the newly developed taxonomies, and working with users of periodic reports to understand how this interactive data will benefit them with regards to usability and cost- effectiveness.

 

"Chairman Cox has made it clear that the use of XBRL will improve the investor and analyst's ability to follow companies as well as the SEC's oversight capabilities," said Dan Roberts of Grant Thornton, and Chair, XBRL- US steering committee, "And we support their efforts to offer an incentive to companies ready to participate. XBRL will help public companies connect more directly to the audiences they need to reach and improve their access to the capital markets. XBRL-US wants to do everything it can to simplify the process for those issuers that step forward to participate."

 

XBRL-US has established the following resources available to public companies that decide to get involved in the SEC's VFP:

·                 A coaching/training pool of XBRL experts from the software, accounting and consulting communities. These experts will provide free telephone consulting to explain the benefits of XBRL to public issuers and on how to use the XBRL creation software to transform traditional financial reports into XBRL.

·                 Training classes. Instructor-led hands-on course, Preparing XBRL Financial Reports, designed specifically for filers/preparers within public companies who want to participate in the VFP. Available for a nominal charge.

·                 Comprehensive listing of XBRL document creation software available for use. http://xbrl.org/us/vendors/

·                 E-mail list group where public issuers can ask specific questions to XBRL experts while they're in the process of creating their XBRL documents. http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/XBRL-US-VFP-QA/

·                 "Guide to Participating in the SEC Voluntary Filing Program" information sheet http://xbrl.org/us/us/SEC_VFP_guide.pdf

 

"These resources are designed to give public companies the knowledge they need to get started," said Michelle Savage of PR Newswire and Chair, Adoption Working Group, XBRL-US, "There is a learning curve to XBRL but within the XBRL consortium, we have the unique expertise to ease that process. Our goal is to make it as simple as possible so that more issuers can recognize the benefits of this new standard in business reporting."

 

Participating in the SEC's VFP can help public companies:

·                 Establish more effective communication with analysts and investors, potentially increasing coverage and boosting investor awareness.

·                 Position themselves positively in the marketplace as advocates of transparency and open communication.

·                 Get a jump on the learning curve of a new corporate reporting platform that is moving towards becoming a standard for all financial statements.

·                 Take advantage of the SEC's new offer of expedited review of financial statements.

 

About XBRL

XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language) is a royalty-free, open specification for software that uses XML data tags to describe financial information for public and private companies and other organizations. XBRL benefits all members of the financial information supply chain by utilizing a standards-based method with which users can prepare, publish in a variety of formats, exchange and analyze financial statements and the information they contain. Some of the world's leading accounting, financial, government and software organizations are involved in the adoption and use of XBRL in the U.S. XBRL-US is hosted and supported by the American Institute of CPAs, one of the founding members of XBRL International. For more information on XBRL, please go to the XBRL US Web site (http://www.xbrl.org/US).  

 

XBRL-US

CONTACT: Karl Best of XBRL-US, +1-201-938-3920, xbrlus@xbrl.org

Web site: http://www.xbrl.org/us
http://xbrl.org/us/vendors
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/XBRL-US-VFP-QA
http://xbrl.org/us/us/SEC_VFP_guide.pdf