Friday, July 27, 2012

OFR Recognizes XBRL

The Office of Financial Research (OFR) was formed under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to improve the quality of financial data available to policymakers and facilitate more robust and sophisticated analysis of the financial system. Among other things, the office is charged with "standardizing the types and formats of data reported and collected" - a natural for XBRL.  The OFR has issued several important reports since its formation and most recently issued its Annual Report for 2012.

The report has numerous references to XBRL. In one section, it acknowledges tha work of the SEC and the FDIC in adopting XBRL for regulatory purposes. It also included a case study on the Adoption of Data Standards by U.S. Regulators, which included information on the successful adoption of XBRL by those agencies.


However, nowhere does the report actually endorse XBRL. Rather the direction seems to be in the direction of developing its own data standard. Indeed, its strategic framework includes "facilitate the establishment of global data related standards to improve data quality and scope". The thrust appears to be towards developing its own standards, which may be a case of reinventing the wheel, given that such a standard already exists in the form of XBRL. For a copy of the annual report, and other documents, check out the OFR website. 

Monday, July 23, 2012



XBRL Canada Annual Conference - October 17 and 18, 2012 

Efficient and Effective Government Reporting - XBRL Canada Annual Conference

XBRL Canada is holding its annual conference in Ottawa at the Chateau Laurier on October 17th from 9AM - 4PM. Registration details are outlined below.

Around the world, XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) is being used to streamline filing systems through SBR (Standard Business Reporting). The conference will focus on SBR and its usefulness for the Canadian Government. Many departments collect reports from the public. However, the departments all have different systems for collecting the data, which means their public constituencies need to use many different systems. SBR enables costs to be reduced both for governments and for the filers.

The conference will feature in the morning guest speakers who:
  • have played a significant role in the implementation of SBR in other countries, like The Netherlands, Australia and Great Britain;
  • have been involved in the new Data Act in the US
  • are playing a key role in Canadian Government programs such as the Red Tape Reduction Commission and the Open Government Initiative that can benefit considerably from SBR;
There will also be interactive panel discussions  in the afternoon focusing on:
  • opportunities for SBR in government departments and agencies  
  • regulatory reporting in the banking industry.
Seminar on XBRL Project Implementation

On October 18th, there will be an additional seminar discussing the basic components of an XBRL/SBR project implementation from the Government’s and agencies' perspective, as well as the internal use of XBRL. It will run from 8:30 AM until 12 noon and will include resources and materials to start a project, case studies, business cases and other reference documentation and software solutions.

Topics will include:


- The main components of an XBRL/SBR program
  • Overcoming political islands between agencies and within agencies
  • Messaging infrastructure
  • Engaging and supporting Developers and Filers
  • Security and Authentication
-  XBRL’s Global Ledger: benefits of incorporating it in the regulatory environment

-  Practical demonstrations on
  • How to XBRL-enable existing software applications
  • Re-engineering internal data-related processes using XBRL
REGISTRATION: Go to XBRL Canada Website 
  • Conference only - $65. includes lunch and coffee break  
  • Seminar only – $50, includes continental breakfast  
  • Both Conference and Seminar - $100  





AICPA Audit Data Standard

The AICPA has released an exposure draft of proposed standards dealing with audit data. The standards propose use of a standard format in which auditors should obtain, handle and record data. The standard recommends the use of XBRL GL for this purpose. XBRL GL is a method of using XBRL to tag data at all stages in the data supply chain, from original transactions to GL accounts and everything in between.

Use of a data standard for assurance purposes will enable a reliable and speedy system for requesting data from clients It will also enable building some of the assurance work into the tagging system, which should reduce the possibility of audit errors taking place. Finally it will enable the development of much more concise and comprehensive working papers, built on a common standard that will facilitate problem identification and review.

The proposed Audit Data Standard is a landmark in the development of audit standards for this new era of data centricity. For a copy of the exposure draft, click this link.