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This site is intended to be a resource for business users who wish to make use of XBRL for business reporting, and particularly for CPAs who use XBRL for financial reporting.  It is hoped that this sight is also useful to educators, students, and others who desire to learn to use XBRL in business and financial reporting.

Currently, the primary emphasis of this site is US GAAP.  Public information relating to the US GAAP taxonomy created with funding from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is made available here.  This is NOT an official site of XBRL US, the SEC, or anyone associated with the official project.  Rather, this is an unofficial site which re-purposes, re-packages, interprets, analyzes, and otherwise adds value to the official information.

This information is intended to help users of this site understand the taxonomy, help business users provide useful feedback to improve the taxonomy during the public comment period, and to help preparers use the taxonomy.  The better educated and more knowledgeable business users are about XBRL, the better they will be positioned to provide feedback on the US GAAP Taxonomy.

This site will evolve.  If you would like to participate in creating it, contribute ideas, or provide other feedback, please contact:  Charles.Hoffman@UBmatrix.com.

Cheers!

 

Understanding XBRL:

The following are several different sources for understanding what XBRL is.

  • Two page Summary.  This is a two page definition of what XBRL is.  Trying to reduce an explanation of what XBRL is down to two pages is challenging, but this does cover the key points.
  • Sixteen page Summary.  This is a 16 page summary of what XBRL is.  It expands on the first version above, providing more detail.
  • Book.  This is a 513 page book!  While this tome is quite the read, it will get your understanding of XBRL where you want it to be if you choose to dive in.  Remember, the devil (and god) is in the details.  This has the details.
  • How XBRL Works.  This is a 6 minute video which shows you how XBRL works.

 

Miscellaneous Resources:

What CFOs Need to Know about XBRL - White paper with questions and answers about XBRL which are helpful to CFOs.  Appropriate for other business readers also.

XBRLS: How a simpler XBRL can make a better XBRL - White paper which describes an approach to using XBRL which makes it easier for business users, software developers, and reduces implementation costs.  This approach is based on best practices and proven techniques.