'Slow traction' on XBRL.While "it is clear that XBRL (EXtensible Business Reporting Language) A specification for publishing financial information in the XML format. It is designed to provide a standard set of XML tags for exchanging accounting information and financial statements between companies and analysts. (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) will be the future of financial reporting; it's just not quite there yet," opines Opines are low molecular weight compounds found in plant crown gall tumors produced by the parasitic bacterium Agrobacterium. Opine biosynthesis is catalyzed by specific enzymes encoded by genes contained in a small segment of DNA (known as the T-DNA, for 'transfer DNA') Jeff Somers, a CPA (Computer Press Association, Landing, NJ) An earlier membership organization founded in 1983 that promoted excellence in computer journalism. Its annual awards honored outstanding examples in print, broadcast and electronic media. The CPA disbanded in 2000. and principal with Roth-stein Kass' Corporate Governance Corporate Governance The relationship between all the stakeholders in a company. This includes the shareholders, directors, and management of a company, as defined by the corporate charter, bylaws, formal policy, and rule of law. Group (www.rkco.com), based in Roseland, N.J. Somers' comments underscore some of the ongoing industry talk about XBRL: there are still issues with labeling, and--more importantly--many CFOs remain skeptical about the benefits. Indeed, the voluntary "interactive data" program launched by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) hasn't drawn a horde of participants. Somers sees "slow and steady traction [on XBRL] until mandatory compliance is implemented. Now that the SEC has finally put a major investment into upgrading the current EDGAR Edgar or Eadgar (both: ĕd`gər), 943?–975, king of the English (959–75), son of Edmund, king of Wessex. In 957 the Mercians and Northumbrians rebelled against Edgar's brother Edwy and chose Edgar as their king. database, we should expect the XBRL participation to accelerate. Unfortunately, the taxonomies (or line-by-line labeling) have not been complete, [though] the SEC has committed $5.5 million to the project that is anticipated to be done in less than a year. With the slow progression of the taxonomies, it appears that the earliest foreseeable mandatory compliance would be for 2009 filings. "Without having mandatory compliance," Somers adds, "it will be difficult to persuade non-accelerated filers to begin using XBRL [since] they are already stretched with pending Sarbanes-Oxley compliance and a competitive accounting market. The cost of converting to XBRL reporting is relatively low, but the real trick will be to convince the middle-market, public-company CFO See Chief Financial Officer. that there are benefits for the company, as well as the obvious benefit for the investor/analyst. In addition, the average middle-market CFO may fear the extra scrutiny by analysts who would have the ability to quickly and thoroughly analyze data." If there is an upbeat note for XBRL, it could be sounded by the experience in financial services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. . Somers notes that approximately 8,200 banks are already required to file their quarterly call reports via XBRL, "and the results have been impressive. The data that was filed using the new XBRL process was much cleaner, free of mathematical errors and, in some cases, received weeks ahead of time in comparison to prior filings." |
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