CFA Institute Publishes Blockchain and XBRL: The Myth

The CFA Institute published a blog debunking myths around blockchain and XBRL, noting: “The myth that blockchain could replace XBRL in the production of financial information is incorrect. Blockchain is not a data standard. And XBRL is not a distributed ledger system. Replacing one with the other would be like replacing the English language with […more]


Let the data tell the story .. how little companies got big

XBRL data gives small businesses the tools to conduct critical analysis needed to make “go/no go” decisions on major life cycle changes. Should a company go public? Merge with another company? Be acquired? Understanding the path taken by other small businesses can help them determine the best course for themselves.  With tools like XBRL data […more]


Automating Work-in-Process (WIP), Improving Contractor Access to Credit

Marcum LLP successfully created a computer-readable WIP report to help contractor clients provide financial performance data to surety carriers that can be automatically extracted with no rekeying of data. Marcum created the report by performing a one-time mapping using a spreadsheet add-in that converted the WIP data into XBRL format. XBRL is an open data […more]


Automation Improves Underwriting Process for Contractors and Sureties

The Hartford demonstrates how a one-time investment in data standards can be used by brokers to streamline their own data processing; and by surety carriers to eliminate the need for manual data entry, improve the credit evaluation process and offer better service to contractor customers.


Global Data Provider Reduces Data Processing Time 90%

Morningstar, an investment research and investment management firm headquartered in Chicago, provides data on approximately 525,000 investment offerings, and began collecting data in XBRL format in 2012, starting with data from Taiwan and Japan. In 2016 they began working with US-based corporate data in XBRL format and will be making this available to clients in […more]


Research Analyst Saves 72 Hours off Data Collection

Corporate earnings are of keen interest to investors as a critical measure of value. But “unremitted (untaxed) foreign earnings”, which have significant implications for corporate earnings, may be off the radar screen of many investors simply because of its placement in company filings, embedded in the notes to the financials. The cumulative balance of untaxed […more]


Student-run Investment Fund Gains Access to Affordable, Timely Corporate Financials

Corporate financials are now affordable, educating tomorrow’s investors. Professor Mike Phillips at California State University – Northridge, helped his students establish a student-run investment fund that today manages $3.5 million. The fund contains three portfolios – 1) an ETF (exchange traded fund); 2) a traditional common stock portfolio with an emphasis on growth and quality; […more]


Audit Firm Produces More Robust Analysis, Reduces Data Collection Time

BDO USA, LLP, the US member firm of BDO International, a global accounting network, was asked to evaluate the fair value of the intangible assets acquired as part of a business combination. A primary factor in this type of evaluation is determining the reasonableness of the underlying projections used to support the intangible asset values. […more]


CFA Institute Study – Data and Technology: Transforming the Financial Information Landscape

The CFA Institute published a study supporting structured data, naming the following benefits to investors: Improves financial statement accuracy Improves productivity Increases opportunity for higher returns Allows for better risk management Empowers the analyst The study goes on to note that other areas of corporate disclosures that are not currently tagged would be helpful to […more]