eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) - Investopedia

eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) is a freely available global framework of accounting standards used for exchanging business information. · XBRL is ... Business BusinessEssentials WhatIseXtensibleBusinessReportingLanguage? XBRLoreXtensibleBusinessReportingLanguageisasoftwarestandardthatwasdevelopedtoimprovethewayinwhichfinancialdataiscommunicated,makingiteasiertocompileandsharethisdata.Notably,eXtensibleBusinessReportingLanguageisanimplementationofXML(extensiblemarkuplanguage),whichisaspecificationthatisusedfororganizinganddefiningdataonline. XBRLusestagstoidentifyeachpieceoffinancialdata,whichthenallowsittobeusedprogrammaticallybyanXBRL-compatibleprogram.XBRLallowsforeasytransmissionofdatabetweenbusinesses. KeyTakeaways eXtensibleBusinessReportingLanguage(XBRL)isafreelyavailableglobalframeworkofaccountingstandardsusedforexchangingbusinessinformation. XBRLisbasedonXMLcodingandisastandardizedwayoftransmittingfinancialrecordsaroundtheworld.ThemostcurrentversionofXBRL,v2.1,waspublishedin2003andhasremainedstable.Severaloptionalmodulesexistasadd-ons. UnderstandingeXtensibleBusinessReportingLanguage Imaginethatyouarelookingatacompany'sfinancialstatementsonlineonthecompany'swebsite.Traditionally,thesestatementswouldsimplybeinplaintext.Ifyouwantedtoputthesenumbersintoaspreadsheetfiletorunanalysisonthestatements,youwouldhavetoeithermanuallytypeorcopyandpasteeachaccountandcorrespondingnumberintothespreadsheet. However,ifthedataonthesitewasavailableineXtensibleBusinessReportingLanguage(XBRL),youcouldsimplyconvertthisdatafromthewebsiteintoaspreadsheetprogram(usuallyinstantaneously)thatisXBRLcompatible. Duetothestandardizednatureoftheidentificationtagsandthelanguageitself,financialdatafromonecountry,whichhassetaccountingstandardssuchasU.S.GAAP,canbeeasilycompiledintotheacceptedaccountingstandardsofanothercountryeveniftheyaredrasticallydifferent.ThereportingoffinancialdatainXBRLisnotrequiredbyallcompanies,butbecauseithasbecomeprevalent,ithasbeensuggestedthatitwon'tbelongbeforeallcompanieswillhavetoreporttheirfinancialdatainthislanguage.iXBRL,whereistandsforinlineisanupdatethatallowsforXBRLmetadatatobeembeddedinanHTMLdocument. XBRLwasdevelopedin1998withversion1.0bytheAmericanInstituteofCertifiedPublicAccountants(AICPA).Thelatestversionofthestandards,v2.1wasformalizedintheyear2003.Whilethev2.1standardhasremainedstablesincethen,severalXBRLmoduleshavebeendevelopedthatcanbepluggedintoachievenewfunctionalityoroperability. CompareAccounts AdvertiserDisclosure × TheoffersthatappearinthistablearefrompartnershipsfromwhichInvestopediareceivescompensation.Thiscompensationmayimpacthowandwherelistingsappear.Investopediadoesnotincludealloffersavailableinthemarketplace. Provider Name Description RelatedTerms Web2.0andWeb3.0Definitions Web2.0referstothecurrentversionoftheInternet;Web3.0isitsnextiteration,whichwillbedecentralized,open,andofgreaterutility. more WhatisWeb2.0? Web2.0describesthecurrentstateoftheinternet,whichhasmoreuser-generatedcontentandend-userfunctionalitythanitsearlierincarnation. more HyperTextMarkupLanguage–HTML HypertextMarkupLanguage(HTML)isthesetof markup symbolsorcodesusedtodisplayontheInternet.Themarkuptellswebbrowsershowtodisplayawebpage'swordsandimages. more WhatIsanEavesdroppingAttack? Aneavesdroppingattackisthetheftofinformationfromasmartphoneorotherdevicewhiletheuserissendingorreceivingdataoveranetwork. more InterchangeDefinition Aninterchangeisthetransferofinformationbetweencomputers.Withinbusinesscircles,ittypicallyreferstoanelectronicdatainterchange,orEDI. more TelefileDefinition TheIRSprovidedtheTelefileservicefrom1997to2005toallowtaxpayersusingform1040EZtophoneintheirtaxreturns. more PartnerLinks RelatedArticles Investopedia IntroductiontoAccountingInformationSystems–AIS Investopedia HowtoFindandFileYourFederalTaxForms Investopedia UnderstandingGAAPvs.IFRS Investopedia ImproveYourInvestingWithExcel Investopedia 7AppsEveryFinancialAnalystShouldHave Investopedia 9SourcesforFreeTaxHelp