SEC Approves Public Company and Mutual Fund Reporting using Interactive Data
XBRL US, the nonprofit consortium for XML business reporting standards, along with its members, stands ready to provide the tools, services and support needed by public company preparers to comply with the final ruling by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In the final ruling, announced December 17, 2008, the SEC will require the largest public companies, those with a worldwide public float greater than $5 billion, to begin reporting financial statements in XBRL format starting with their first fiscal period on or after June 15, 2009. All other large accelerated filers will be required to file in XBRL format 12 months later; and all other public companies will need to comply starting 12 months after that.
While many companies have already participated in the SEC’s Voluntary XBRL filing program, many more are still learning what they have to do to begin creating XBRL-formatted financials. XBRL US has established specific programs and created tools designed to support financial reporting preparers as they begin the process:
- Preparer Training Sessions “XBRL Filer Training Workshop”, a program that will give you the basics on how to map and tag your own financial statements, how to block tag footnotes, issues to consider and how to get started.
- Free educational webinar, “XBRL for Filers”, covering the planning process, how to map, tag and create extensions and how to guard against risks.
- Tools and Services Matrix, an online comparative table that outlines XBRL US member offerings that will help public companies create XBRL-formatted financials.
- XBRL US GAAP data tags, the full set of elements that public companies will need to use to begin submitting in XBRL format. XBRL US developed these tags under contract with the SEC. The 2009 release is now out for a public review period that ends on January 15, 2009. Reviewers can view the elements and provide commentary on revisions to labels or definitions and on new elements that should be added.
- XBRL US GAAP Taxonomies Preparers Guide, a comprehensive document on how to tag financials, create extensions and work with the taxonomies.
“We recognize that XML-based reporting is a new process for most public companies”, said Campbell Pryde, Chief Standards Officer at XBRL US, “We are committed to providing the kind of training and resources to give companies the right start. And our members are at the ready with tools and services that work with the new taxonomies.”
The XBRL US GAAP Taxonomies, information on how to use them to comply with the SEC rule, as well as information about the breadth of tools and services is available for public company financial executives from www.xbrl.us.
XBRL US also developed the XML tags for the Mutual Fund Risk Return Summary portion of their prospectuses.
About XBRL XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language) is a royalty-free, open specification for software that uses XML data tags to describe business and financial information for public and private companies and other organizations. XBRL benefits all members of the information supply chain by utilizing a standards-based method with which users can prepare, publish in a variety of formats, exchange and analyze financial statements and the information they contain. XBRL International is a non-profit consortium of approximately 550 organizations worldwide working together to build the XBRL language and promote and support its adoption. XBRL International is responsible for the technical XBRL specification and each country-specific jurisdiction works to facilitate the development and adoption of local XBRL taxonomies, or dictionaries, consistent with accounting, regulatory, and market standards and practices.
About XBRL US XBRL US is the non-profit consortium for XML business reporting standards in the United States and is a jurisdiction of XBRL International. It represents the business information supply chain, including accounting firms, software companies, financial databases, financial printers and government agencies. Its mission is to support the implementation of XML business reporting standards through the development of taxonomies relevant for use by US public and private sectors, working with a goal of interoperability between sectors, and by promoting adoption of these taxonomies through the collaboration of all business reporting supply chain participants. XBRL US has developed taxonomies to support U.S. GAAP and common reporting practices under a contract with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The XBRL US GAAP Taxonomies are available for review at http://xbrl.us/pages/us-gaap.aspx.
Source: XBRL US, Inc.
CONTACT: Michelle Savage, Vice President, Communication, XBRL US, Inc. (917) 747-1714 michelle.savage@xbrl.us
