XBRL International

Infobox Company
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company_name = XBRL International
company_type = Consortium
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foundation = 1998
founder = AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)
location_city = New York City
location_country = USA
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homepage = [http://www.xbrl.org/ www.xbrl.org]
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XBRL International (XII) is the international standards organization which develops and maintains the XBRL Specification. It is a not-for-profit consortium of agencies and companies internationally, working together to build the XBRL language standard, and support and promote XBRL's adoption. As of February 2008, the XII had approximately 550 members. [http://www.xbrl.org/AboutTheOrganisation/] XII is the organization responsible for the XBRL taxonomy that will used by the SEC for US public companies after 2010. cite web |url=http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2008/2008-85.htm |title=U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission |accessdate=2008-09-08]

Mission

SEC Chairman Christopher Cox says "The centerpiece of our regulatory approach is giving investors the information they need to make wise decisions. We have an opportunity to exponentially improve the way we perform that mission."cite web |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/18/AR2008081802110.html |title=Washington Post |accessdate=2008-09-08]

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers consultant Walter Hamscher, who began his work with the XML standards consortium XBRL International while he was working on his PhD in computer science at MIT, the mission of XII's international members is to facilitate a standard for the transfer of financial information along the business information supply chain. Hamscher says that by creating a common framework, the flow of information to investors and other users is accelerated.cite web |url=http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/2211891 |title=Internet News |accessdate=2008-09-08]

History

XBRL was originally the work of the AICPA as a way to advance financial reporting and facilitate the global exchange of financial data. [http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2004/03/10/xbrl.html] In response to the new standard, XBRL International was created to ensure compatibility and agreement among industry members in the adoption of new standards in business reporting. The consortium was created to collaborate on a set of core principles and components which make up the XBRL standard business reporting language and to prevent XBRL from growing into many different forms that might confuse the users of financial data.

In 2008, the SEC mandated the use of XBRL reporting for US public companies. [http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2008/2008-85.htm] XBRL US, a division of XBRL International, was chosen to develop a single taxonomy for SEC financial reporting.

In May 2008, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox thanked XBRL International for "continued leadership in growing interactive data into its preeminent role as the computer language of business and financial reporting for the world".cite web |url=http://www.sec.gov/news/speech/2008/spch050708cc-2.htm |title=U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission |accessdate=2008-09-08]

Membership

The consortium is governed by its membership, which comprises about 550 organizations. XII members consist of jurisdictions, either provisional or established, organized under the rules of the organization. XII also accepts direct members and associations members. Jurisdiction members include businesses, nonprofit organizations, universities, governmental entities and in some cases individuals. There is no provision for individual membership directly with XII.

Organizations are members of and pay membership fees to XBRL jurisdictions. As of August 2008, there are 16 established jurisdictions, seven provisional jurisdictions, and one affiliated organization (XBRL Europe).

Administration

XII is comprised of several working groups having jurisdictional and international focus. A Steering Committee chosen from jursidictional and at-large representativescite web |url=http://www.xbrl.org/SteeringCommittee/ |title=XBRL International - Steering Committee |accessdate=2008-09-08] , sets the overall direction of the specification and coordinates these working groups.cite web |url=http://www.ey.com/global/content.nsf/International/XBRL-Who_is_XBRL_International |title=Earnst & Young |accessdate=2008-09-08]

XII has a Board of Directors and a Board of Advisors. [http://www.xbrl.org/AboutTheOrganisation/] Technical direction of the standards owned by XII is controlled by the XBRL Standards Board. [http://www.xbrl.org/StandardsBoard/] The Best Practices Board is responsible for collecting, evaluating and disseminating best practices in XBRL implementation. [http://www.xbrl.org/BestPracticesBoard/]

References

External links

* [http://www.xbrl.org/ XII homepage]