Xbrl technologies for financial reporting in information systems

Ahmed Zamzam,Alaa A Qaffas

doi:10.24297/ijmit.v13i0.7609

Abstract

Without a common format, the financial community has been constantly penalized by the data exchange process. Currently, when financial data are dematerialized, they are exchanged in a multitude of formats: Excel files, free text, PDF, etc. Often not much more suitable for processing than photocopying and limited to certain platforms, these formats prove unsuitable for the exchange of information between programs, for analysis, comparison and presentation of reports to users. So far, despite a strong tendency to use XML syntax, attempts at convergence have struggled to generalize and apply to many sectors and contexts.In recent years, reporting requirements have led to a significant increase in the cost of using financial systems. The use of XBRL technology, using XML syntax, supported by many players in the world of finance, the software industry and adapted to reporting, can constitute the solution. Many governments, regulators, financial institutions are already using XBRL or have pilot projects in place.This document specifically targets XBRL. This technology, which is now recognized by the entire software industry, provides tremendous benefits for data exchange, storage, research and processing.

Highlights

XBRL is a declarative language based on the XML standard, designed to be a universal language for expression, dematerialization and electronic transmission of financial data
Capital market research about the implementation of XBRL has centered on the assessment of the efficacy of capital markets by using cost of capital, earnings response coefficients, reduction of analyst forecast errors as a measure, as well as other standard trials used to test the quality of accounting and financial information transmission
XBRL uses XML syntax that allows to associate to each information, a standardized description that gives to each application the means to know the meaning of this data and its context

Summary

Introduction

XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) is a declarative language based on the XML (eXtensibleMarkup Language) standard, designed to be a universal language for expression, dematerialization and electronic transmission of financial data. By defining a common standard for all players, XBRL frees users from their dependence on proprietary formats that can only be edited by publishers' solutions and increases the speed of financial information processing by eliminating several human data entries and reading intermediaries between two companies.

Results

Conclusion