XBRL shows signs of maturity

SEVERAL SIGNS OF THE GROWING MATURITY OF XBRL are evident with the announcement of three significant developments. The first concerns the release of an XBRL software developer's tool for manipulating items and elements in XBRL documents from a Nashville company called eKeeper.com. This tool will significantly

The second development is the announcement of the formation of an XBRL repository for financial statements by EDGAR Online, Inc. Liv Watson, IMA Technology Committee member, will join EDGAR Online, Inc. as director to lead the development of this important project She will establish and manage the repository, which will provide a single source for analysts, investors, credit and lending institutions, news organizations, and accountants to find any company financials prepared and published in this format.

The third development is the growing list of organizations that have agreed to sign on to the XBRL team. Nearly 20 new members have joined the consortium in the past two months alone, including accounting industry software and information publisher Practitioners Publishing Co. and German bank, Deutsche Bundesbank, each of whom joined in mid-September. Other recent additions include BDO Seidman, Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, eKeeper.com, e-Numerate Solutions, ePace Software, First Call Corp., Holt Value Associates, J.P. Morgan & Co., Japan Digital Disclosure, MIP, National Information Infrastructure Enterprise Promotion Association (Taiwan), NEC Planning Research, NetLedger, New River, PeopleSoft, and SysPro. Gary Gillette, PPC's representative on the XBRL committee, said, "The uniformity XBRL provides will make it easier to prepare and analyze financial information."

Each new member joins with a pledge to become an active participant in XBRL working groups and to incorporate XBRL into their future product offerings wherever appropriate.

First, the bad news

In a classic article published by Scientific American (http://www.scientificamerican.com/1999/0599issue/ 0599bosak.html) in April 1999, authors Jon Bosak and Tim Bray clearly describe the challenges for moving to a secondgeneration Web:

"For its users, the XML-powered Web will be faster, friendlier and a better place to do business. Website designers, on the other hand, will find it more demanding. Battalions of programmers will be needed to exploit new XML languages to their fullest. And although the day of the self-trained Web hacker is not yet over, the species is endangered. Tomorrow's Web designers will need to be versed not just in the production of words and graphics but also in the construction of multilayered, interdependent systems of DTDs, data trees, hyperlink structures, metadata and stylesheets-a more robust infrastructure for the Web's second generation."1

Does this mean all financial professionals will need to learn multi-layered, interdependent Document Type Definitions (Note: XBRL uses XML schema to define documents, not DTD), data trees, hyperlink structures, metadata, and stylesheets? Yes and no. Yes, financial software designers and selected expert users will need to learn several new tricks. Fortunately, companies like eKeeper, XBRL Solutions, Inc., and Caseware are working hard to provide userfriendly tools for simplifying the XBRL experience. But for the vast majority of financial professionals, everyday tools required to put the complexities of XML (and XBRL) "under the covers" will soon be with us.

Now, the good news

The good news for financial professionals is that financial software makers will soon have easy-to-workwith tools for the incorporation of XBRL. For example, take a look at this recent product announcement from eKeeper.com:

"eKeeper.com Releases XML-based Solution: eKXBRL 1.0 Software Facilitates Generation of XBRL Solutions for Financial Reporting eKeeper.com, a leading provider of Web content management solutions to the middle market, announced today that it has released eKXBRL, a software component that significantly reduces the time it takes for a developer to generate XBRL-compatible code. XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) is an Internet specification that first appeared on the financial and accounting scene in October 1999. It uses a financial reporting specification, agreed upon by key members of the financial information supply chain, which allows an open exchange of financial reporting data across all software and technologies including the Internet."

The press release goes on to explain how the new software tool will aid companies seeking to put XBRL into the logic of their software programs. Financial software company ACCPAC recently announced that they will be using eKXBRL as they work to incorporate XBRL into their software packages.

Navision Financials 2.6 has XBRL

Navision was the first company to imbed XBRL into its financial software, making XBRL a major new feature in the recent release of Navision Financials 2.6. Navision's firstto-the-market product was available within one week of the official release of the July 31, 2000, XBRL specification. Company spokespeople had the following to say about what XBRL has done for their product offerings:

"The most significant enhancement to the latest release of Navision Solutions is the addition of XBRL. The XBRL functionality is an included feature with the purchase of Basic General Ledger. XBRL will allow customers to more easily and efficiently connect and communicate with all types of products in the ERP space. For example, a set of subsidiary offices using Navision Financials can now more quickly collaborate with a parent office using an entirely different ERP system, while realizing significant time and cost savings. Please see www.Navision-us.com for further information.

EDGAR Online

Imagine a source for finding any company's financial information coded in XBRL. Think about the time you will save by downloading this information directly into databases and spreadsheets without rekeying the information. In a short time, EDGAR Online, Inc. will make that dream come true with its repository for company financial statements in XBRL format.

According to Liv Watson, "Our goal is to establish the first XBRL repository and go live early next year. The incorporation of XBRL will allow EDGAR Online, Inc. to provide superior services to companies, analysts, investors, and other audiences, allowing for more informed financial and management decisions."

John Taysom, founder and coCEO of the Reuters Greenhouse Fund, a strategic investor in EDGAR Online, Inc., added: "This move looks set to solidify EDGAR Online's position in SEC-based data. Reuters is deeply committed to helping develop the new standards which will become critical to sophisticated users of news and financial data."

For more information, visit http://www.edgar-online. com/news.