Extensible Business Reporting Language

Here’s another chapter in the long-running series of Wall Street being completely taken over by machines. The Denver Post reports:

A relatively new software code known as XBRL will soon give investors, stock analysts and regulators a better way to evaluate and compare the financial statements of public companies, a finance expert said Tuesday during a luncheon in Denver.
The software, short for extensible business reporting language, is already being adopted by a handful of companies. Widespread use, however, is still at least a few years away, industry experts said.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the SEC soon mandates XBRL.

XBRL software is similar to a bar code that tracks any consumer product. It affixes specific “tags” to financial data. Each line item on a company’s balance sheet or earnings report – sales, liabilities and profits – would receive a tag that makes the information easy to access and read.

Update: Jack Ciesielski has more on XBRL.

Posted by on May 11th, 2006 at 7:17 am


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