ABSTRACT
Reporting financial information and other accounting disclosure in a broad and timely manner is in the best interest of companies of all makes and sizes. The technology that is making this possible is XBRL, whose aim is not to establish new accounting standards, but to represent financial information disclosed by companies in a consistent manner to prepare financial statements more efficiently, to exchange information more reliably, to publish more easily and analyse data more quickly. This is possible by tagging financial information, which allows information to retain its context as it moves through the business reporting supply chain. The importance of comparing data is important in areas such as Intellectual Capital (IC): Comparing information published by different companies in a common format permits users to identify more easily the differences in the treatment of Intangibles. As with any new technology, adoption and implementation is achieved through trial and error.
