The use of ·XBRL, the eXtensible Business Reporting Language, is increasing worldwide and business people are looking for information about its utility as well as the way it fits together.  The goal of this document is to help those new to ·XBRL to understand the way that XBRL International (·XII) materials fit together, what to read and what not to read.  Specifically, this document is intended to provide an overview of the various documents, processes and ·XML materials published by ·XII work together.

The new SEC ruling has financial professionals faced with getting up to speed on XBRL quickly.

Fujitsu can help.

Join Peter Campbell, Principal Architect at Fujitsu, in an interactive session where he will focus on a practical introduction to key XBRL concepts in relation to common financial documents.

What is XBRL?

XBRL stands for eXtensible Business Reporting Language, and it is a language for the electronic communication of business and financial data worldwide. As one of the family of "XML" languages, it is becoming a standard means of communicating information between businesses and on the internet.

XBRL is being developed by an international non-profit consortium of approximately 450 major companies, organisations and government agencies. It is an open standard, free of licence fees. It is already being put to practical use in a number of countries and implementations of XBRL are growing rapidly around the world. (Source: http://www.xbrl.org/)

Providing major benefits in the preparation, analysis and communication of business information, XBRL offers cost savings, greater efficiency, and improved accuracy and reliability to all those involved in supplying or using financial data.

Most information today moves in a digital format. When searching for information on organizations or products, people often go to the internet. Companies use extensive ERP systems to manage information across units and across countries. Researchers and analysts typically have services that provide packages of reports and data sets and other information via terminals. Consumers are even turning to web-enabled devices like cell phones to answer whatever questions they have, whenever they have them.

Sustainability information, however, has largely remained in print, but report preparers and users have much to be gained by moving environmental and social performance information into the wider digital flow of information. This has already started with increasing use of web-based reporting. However, there is even more potential to be unlocked by enabling people to put their specific information into a widely-accepted format that can also give readers more flexible access to the contents of reports.

What is XBRL?

The short answer is that XBRL (short for eXtensible Business Reporting Language) is an XML-based standard for handling corporate financial information.

For a more complete definition I'll leave it to the experts. From XBRL International's website:

XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language) is an electronic format for simplifying the flow of financial statements, performance reports, accounting records, and other financial information between software programs. This royalty-free, open specification is being developed collaboratively to make it less costly for companies to publish financial information in a format that can be easily viewed and used by management, investors, regulators, and all of the participants in financial markets. It is an XML-based framework that provides the financial community a standards-based method to prepare, publish in a variety of formats, reliably extract and automatically exchange the financial statements of public and private companies, public sector agencies. XBRL enhances the usability and transparency of financial information reported under existing accounting standards, simplifies disclosure, and allows companies to communicate financial information more readily via the Internet.

In simple terms, XBRL is trying build upon the foundation that XML provides for data manipulation, specifically for those dealing with financial data. It is designed to provide a platform-independent way of describing, transferring, and utilizing financial information.

This is a lecture on XBRL by Carlie Hoffnan and Steve Levine, UBmatrix, recorded live on 22 April 2009, to explain "XBRL - the Why, Why and Who," presented as O'Reilly Webcast available through YouTube. Length is 59:26.

What is XBRL? How is it different than XML? Who is using it today? With the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) mandating it; stock exchanges around the world using it; and official support from the European Parliament as well as governments of the Netherlands, Australia, Japan and China--the Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) can certainly be considered a global standard for business reporting. In this webcast, Charlie Hoffman, the father of XBRL and Steve Levine, both of Ubmatrix, introduce XBRL and answer questions.

XBRL is reinventing how we transmit and use data in business. XBRL is not just for SEC companies: Small businesses and practitioners alike could soon be using XBRL to submit information to bankers, the IRS, and other agencies. XBRL will become a part of every CPA’s practice.

Brief introduction to XBRL using analogy of bar code. A link to "A Primer on XBRL, the Extensible Business Reporting language" is included at the end of the webpage, which covers such topics as "The Function of XBRL," "How XBRL Works," "XBRL Initiatives by U.S. Institutions," "XBRL Initiatives by non-U.S. Institutions," and so on.

The official web site for XBRL Europe. This web site provides all information on meetings, projects, and practices.

Starting with an introductory chapter "What is XBRL?", this website contains comprehensive information about using XBRL from understanding and using Taxonomies, creating extension taxonomies, to creating Instance Document.