Point of View - Issues, Interviews & Opinions

Ready to trade in your flip phone?

Julie Valpey, Chair, XBRL US Communications Steering Committee; Partner, National SEC Department, BDO

Switching to structured (XBRL) data after using HTML versions of financial filings is like trading in your flip phone for an iPhone. Wow. Suddenly you can do things you never thought possible.


What can the solar industry learn from the grocery business?

Jonathan Previtali, Vice President, Environmental Finance Group, Wells Fargo and Michelle Savage, Vice President, Communication, XBRL US

In 1974, the first Universal Product Code (UPC) was scanned in Troy, Ohio, automating what had been a manual process for recording sales. The first item scanned was a pack of Wrigley’s chewing gum. The UPC revolutionized the retail grocery business, using technology standards to wring costs out of a process that required the collection of massive amounts of data.


Three New Year’s resolutions for public company filers

Mike Starr, Chair, XBRL US Data Quality Committee; Vice President, Governmental and Regulatory Affairs, Workiva

As we begin a brand new year, it’s always good to make a few resolutions that go beyond joining a health club, eating right and losing weight. So we have three recommendations to add to your list of resolutions. The first is get involved in industry efforts to improve the usability of XBRL data submitted to the SEC. It won’t require a lot of effort and you will receive some important benefits. For a small investment of your time, you will be on the forefront of imminent, groundbreaking regulatory changes, and you will be able to reduce your workload while significantly improving the quality of your XBRL financial data submitted to the SEC.