Thursday, January 21, 2010

New IAASB Publication on XBRL


The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) has released a new awareness document explaining the relationship of IAASB Standards and XBRL and pointing out that the current standards were not developed with XBRL in mind. As the press release says, 


"Recognizing the growing international use of Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL)—a language for the electronic communication of business and financial data that is changing business reporting around the world—the staff of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) has developed a new question-and-answer publication. It is designed to raise awareness about how XBRL-tagged data is prepared and how it may affect financial reporting.
Entitled XBRL: The Emerging Landscape, the publication explains that the IAASB’s current International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) were not developed with XBRL in mind and, accordingly, do not require auditors to perform procedures on XBRL-tagged data as part of a financial statement audit. It clarifies how XBRL may lead to a demand for various types of assurance and related services engagements, and describes the scope of the IAASB’s planned consultations to determine whether to develop a new international pronouncement addressing XBRL.
“As more and more financial authorities begin to require or permit entities to provide financial information in XBRL, now is the time to help educate users about some XBRL fundamentals, and for the IAASB to explore whether and how a related international standard might help address assurance needs,” says James Gunn, IAASB Technical Director. “A number of organizations are involved in XBRL initiatives and we look forward to hearing the viewpoints of preparers, users, regulators, national standard-setters, auditors, and others on this important topic,” adds Mr. Gunn.
The publication is available to download free of charge from the IAASB section of IFAC’s Publications and Resources site: web.ifac.org/publications."

Friday, January 15, 2010

Survey Shows Companies in the US are getting ready for XBRL

XBRL US, the XML standard setter for business information reporting in the U.S., announced today that public companies are heeding the advice to "start early" in preparing for XBRL adoption, according to a joint survey with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). 73% of respondents said that they have begun preparations for adoption of XBRL. Most of those surveyed, 93%, had at least a basic knowledge of XBRL. See a report on the survey at this site.

The situation is very different in Canada, where in a recent survey, more than 80% of respondent companies had little or no understanding of XBRL. Cross listed Canadian companies will be required to conform to the SEC requirements. They are scaling in over the next few years, but the big effect will take place when IFRS is adopted next year. Companies filing with the SEC in IFRS will be required to file in XBRL.