XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language)
Candlefocus EditorDeveloped since 1997 by XBRL International (formerly XBRL US) and with the help of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), XBRL is an open, standard-based framework for creating, expressing and exchanging business information. The most recent version of XBRL, v2. 1, was published in 2003 and has remained relatively unchanged since then.
The core XBRL language enables users to submit and view financial data, along with additional optional modules that add specific functionality such as providing for the use of footnote definitions, multilingual capabilities and the definition and use of custom taxonomies.
One of the primary benefits of XBRL is that it allows for quicker and more accurate financial analysis by enabling the comparison of financial data between companies, industries and countries. Financial analysts, accountants and taxpayers are also able to quickly and accurately data-mine and search financial reports due to the ability of XBRL to tag and organize data, while also reducing the labor available in manual data entry.
Secure data exchange is also a key benefit of XBRL, allowing organizations to share sensitive information without worrying about their data being compromised or corrupted. XBRL helps to reduce the amount of time spent manually coding reports by automating the process while also providing organizations with a controlled and secure environment to exchange financial information.
XBRL is a game-changer for businesses, as it not only simplifies the process of exchanging financial information but also makes financial analysis much more reliable. With more companies adopting XBRL as their primary language for financial reporting, financial data is becoming increasingly accessible, reliable and up-to-date.