XBRL: XML, XLink, and the Revolution in Corporate Reporting

»Walter Hamscher, »XBRL International

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Abstract

This year's debacles in financial disclosures have demonstrated the urgent need for better ways for companies to report results to investors and other stakeholders. Using XML data tags to describe financial information for public and private companies and other organizations, XBRL transforms corporate reporting from a paper-oriented publishing model into an Internet broadcasting model, providing significant benefits to all participants. This talk will describe for an XML-savvy audience a significant pilot project by NASDAQ, Microsoft and PricewaterhouseCoopers, and will cover in depth several significant XBRL announcements by government agencies, exchanges, and Fortune 500 companies, all scheduled for mid November.

Keywords

»Financial, »XBRL.

1. Late-breaking Talk

Since this was a late-breaking talk, the author did not have time to complete the paper for the proceedings.

Biography

»Walter Hamscher

Chair, Steering Committee

»XBRL International

»Concord, Massachusetts

»United States of America

Email: walter@hamscher.com

Web: http://www.standardadvantage.com

Walter Hamscher is the co-author of the first XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language) specification and currently is Chair of the Steering Committee of XBRL International. He is the founder of Standard Advantage, a consultancy based in Boston, Massachusetts that helps companies to take advantage of strategic commitments to open standards, particuarly XML based e-commerce standards. He was previously the CTO of Beachfire Inc. and was Director of global research and development at PricewaterhouseCoopers. He earned hsis Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.