An Introduction to XBRL

Just like digital maps, digital business reports, in XBRL format, simplify the way that people can use, share, analyse and add value to the data. Home TheStandard TheConsortium Guidance Home News Events Taggings JoinUsJoinaJurisdictionDirectMembershipMembershipBenefitsFormingaJurisdictionWhatdoesmymembershipfund? TheStandard WhatAnIntroductiontoXBRLTheStandardforReportingiXBRLIntroducingtheOIMFinancialStatementsinXBRLSpecificationsTaxonomiesXBRLGlobalLedger:TransactionalReporting HowGettingStartedforBusinessGettingStartedforRegulatorsGettingStartedforDevelopersToolsandServicesSoftwareCertification WhyTenCountrieswithOpenDataXBRLforSecuritiesFilingXBRLforBusinessRegistrarsXBRLProjectDirectory TheConsortium AboutBoardofDirectorsJurisdictionsMemberAssemblyMembershipListContactJobBoardLegalNewsroomStaffVideos JoinJoinaJurisdictionDirectMembershipMembershipBenefitsFormingaJurisdictionWhatdoesmymembershipfund? GetInvolvedBestPracticesBoardXBRLStandardsBoardNavigatingYourJourneyasaVolunteerIndividualCertificationSubscribetotheNewsletter! MembersCreateanAccountCreateaToolsandServicesListingConferencePresentationsGoverningDocumentsGroupsJoinaWorkingGroupMemberNewsletterArchiveMembers’ForumRecordingsSubmitaPressReleaseSubscribetotheMemberMailingListTrademarkRequestFormsXBRLDirectionsWorkshopLostPassword Guidance AnIntroductiontoXBRL ThebasicsofXBRLforbusinessandaccountingprofessionals. Login Home>TheStandard>What>AnIntroductiontoXBRL WhatisXBRL? XBRListheopeninternationalstandardfordigitalbusinessreporting,managedbyaglobalnotforprofitconsortium,XBRLInternational.Weare committedtoimprovingreportinginthepublicinterest. XBRLisusedaroundtheworld,inmorethan50countries.MillionsofXBRLdocumentsarecreatedeveryyear,replacingolder,paper-basedreportswithmoreuseful,moreeffectiveandmoreaccurate digitalversions. Inanutshell,XBRL providesalanguageinwhichreportingtermscanbeauthoritativelydefined.Thosetermscanthenbeusedtouniquelyrepresentthecontentsoffinancialstatementsorotherkindsofcompliance,performanceandbusinessreports.XBRLletsreportinginformationmovebetweenorganisationsrapidly,accuratelyanddigitally. Thechangefrompaper,PDFandHTMLbasedreportstoXBRLonesisalittlebitlikethechangefromfilmphotographytodigitalphotography,orfrompapermapstodigitalmaps.Thenewformatallowsyoutodoallthethingsthatusedtobepossible,butalsoopensuparangeofnewcapabilitiesbecausetheinformationisclearlydefined,platform-independent,testableanddigital.Justlikedigitalmaps,digitalbusinessreports,inXBRLformat,simplifythewaythatpeoplecanuse,share,analyseandaddvaluetothedata. Justasthestandardisedshippingcontainertransformedglobalsupplychainsforgoods,thestandardisationofreportingconceptscreateslargeandsometimesunexpectedefficienciesinthebusinessreportingsupplychain. WhatdoesXBRLdo? Oftentermed“barcodesforreporting”,XBRLmakesreportingmoreaccurateandmoreefficient.Itallowsuniquetagstobeassociatedwith reportedfacts,allowing: peoplepublishingreportstodosowithconfidencethattheinformationcontainedinthemcanbeconsumedandanalysedaccurately peopleconsumingreportstotestthemagainstasetofbusinessandlogicalrules,inordertocaptureandavoidmistakesattheirsource peopleusingtheinformationtodosointhewaythatbestsuitstheirneeds,includingbyusingdifferentlanguages,alternativecurrenciesandintheirpreferredstyle peopleconsumingtheinformationtodosoconfidentthatthedataprovidedtothemconformstoasetofsophisticatedpre-defineddefinitions Comprehensivedefinitionsandaccuratedatatagsallowthe: preparation validation publication exchange consumption;and analysis ofbusinessinformationofallkinds.InformationinreportspreparedusingtheXBRLstandardisinterchangeablebetweendifferentinformationsystemsinentirelydifferentorganisations.Thisallowsfortheexchangeofbusinessinformationacrossa reportingchain.Peoplethatwanttoreportinformation,shareinformation,publishperformanceinformationandallowstraightthroughinformationprocessingallrelyonXBRL. Inadditiontoallowingtheexchangeofsummarybusinessreports,likefinancialstatements,andriskandperformancereports,XBRLhasthecapabilitytoallowthe taggingoftransactionsthatcanthemselvesbeaggregatedintoXBRLreports.Thesetransactionalcapabilitiesallowsystem-independentexchangeandanalysisofsignificantquantitiesofsupportingdataandcanbethekeytotransformingreportingsupplychains. Whousesit? TheinternationalXBRLconsortiumissupportedbymorethan600memberorganisations,from boththeprivateandpublicsectors.Thestandardhasbeendevelopedandrefinedovermorethanadecadeandsupportsalmosteverykindofconceivablereporting,whileprovidingawiderangeoffeaturesthatenhancethequalityandconsistencyofreports,aswellastheirusability.XBRLisusedinmanydifferentways,formanydifferentpurposes,includingby: Regulators Financialregulatorsthatneedsignificantamountsofcomplexperformanceandriskinformationabouttheinstitutionsthattheyregulate. Securitiesregulatorsandstockexchangesthatneedtoanalysetheperformanceandcomplianceoflistedcompaniesandsecurities,andneedtoensurethatthisinformationisavailabletomarketstoconsumeandanalyse. Businessregistrarsthatneedtoreceiveandmakepubliclyavailablearangeofcorporatedataaboutprivateandpubliccompanies,includingannualfinancialstatements. Taxauthoritiesthatneedfinancialstatementsandothercomplianceinformationfromcompaniesinordertoprocessandreviewtheircorporatetaxaffairs. Statisticalandmonetarypolicyauthoritiesthatneed financialperformanceinformationfrommanydifferentorganisations. Companies Companiesthatneedtoprovideinformationtooneormoreoftheregulatorsmentionedabove. Enterprises thatneedtoaccuratelymoveinformationaroundwithinacomplexgroup. Supplychainsthatneedtoexchangeinformationtohelpmanageriskandmeasureactivity. Governments Governmentagenciesthataresimplifyingtheprocessofbusinessesreportingtogovernmentandreducingredtape,byeitherharmonisingdatadefinitionsorconsolidatingreportingobligations(orboth). Governmentagenciesthatareimprovinggovernmentreportingbystandardisingthewaythatconsolidatedortransactionalreportsarepreparedandusedwithingovernmentagenciesand/orpublishedintothepublicdomain. DataProviders Specialistdataprovidersthatuseperformanceandriskinformationpublishedintothemarketplaceandcreatecomparisons,ratingsandothervalue-addedinformationproductsforothermarketparticipants. AnalystsandInvestors Analyststhatneedtounderstandrelativeriskandperformance. Investorsthatneedtocomparepotentialinvestmentsandunderstandtheunderlyingperformanceofexistinginvestments. Accountants AccountantsuseXBRLinsupportofclientsreportingrequirementsandareofteninvolvedinthepreparationofXBRLreports. WhataresomeofthemostimportantfeaturesofXBRL? ClearDefinitions XBRLallowsthecreationofreusable,authoritativedefinitions,calledtaxonomies,thatcapturethemeaningcontainedinallofthereportingtermsusedinabusinessreport,aswellastherelationshipsbetweenalloftheterms.Taxonomiesaredevelopedbyregulators,accountingstandardssetters,governmentagenciesandothergroupsthatneedtoclearlydefineinformationthatneedstobereportedupon.XBRLdoesn’tlimit whatkindofinformationisdefined:it’salanguagethatcanbeusedandextendedasneeded. TestableBusinessRules XBRLallowsthecreationofbusinessrulesthatconstrainwhatcanbereported.Businessrulescanbelogicalormathematical,orboth. Thesebusinessrulescanbeusedto: stoppoorqualityinformationbeingsenttoaregulatororthirdparty,bybeingrunbythepreparerwhilethereportisindraft. stoppoorqualityinformationbeingacceptedbyaregulatororthirdparty,bybeingrunatthepointthattheinformationisbeingreceived.Businessreportsthatfailcriticalrulescanbebouncedbacktothepreparerforreviewandresubmission. flaggingorhighlightingquestionableinformation,allowingpromptfollowup,correctionorexplanation. createratios,aggregationsandotherkindsofvalue-addedinformation,basedonthefundamentaldataprovided. Multi-lingualSupport XBRLallowsconceptdefinitionstobepreparedinasmanylanguagesasnecessary.Translationsofdefinitionscanalsobeaddedbythirdparties.Thismeansthatit’spossibletodisplayarangeofreportsinadifferentlanguagetotheonethattheywerepreparedin,withoutanyadditionalwork.TheXBRLcommunitymakesextensiveuseofthiscapabilityasitcanautomaticallyopenupreportstodifferentcommunities. StrongSoftwareSupport XBRLissupportedbyaverywiderangeofsoftwarefromvendorslargeandsmall,allowingaverywiderangeofstakeholderstoworkwiththestandard. Whatnext? Findoutmorebyexploringthissite.TotrulyunderstandXBRL,andtoleverageandbenefitfromthestandardweencourageeveryonetojointheconsortium.Byjoiningyouaredirectlycontributingtoaglobalefforttoimprovereporting. Newsletter Wouldyouliketolearnmore? JoinourNewslettermailinglisttostaypluggedintothelatestinformationaboutXBRLaroundtheworld. Name First Last Email* Company/Organisation ByclickingsubmityouagreetotheXBRLInternationalprivacypolicywhichcanbefoundatxbrl.org/privacy XBRLInternationalisaglobalnotforprofitoperatinginthepublic interest.Ourpurposeistoimprovetheaccountabilityandtransparencyofbusinessperformanceglobally,byprovidingtheopendataexchangestandardforbusinessreporting. Home TheStandard TheConsortium Members Specifications SpecificationIndex OutforReview FAQ ContactUs Legal TrademarksandLogos PrivacyPolicy CookiePolicy ©2001-2022XBRLInternationalInc.Allrightsreserved. Toprovideyouwiththebestpossibleexperience,thissiteusescookies.MoreinfoNoproblem