Digital Financial Reporting

I wanted to make my loyal blog readers aware of something before I passed this information on to others.  On this blog site there is a web page for the XBRL for Dummies book which is set to be in stores very soon (like next month).

The page is for the XBRL for Dummies book. The page has two things which may be of interest.  First, the organizes the links in the book into book chapters.  Therefore, you can get a better feel for the book using that table of contents information.  Second, lots and lots of links.  The links are good for two reasons:  (a) because they point to other useful information, (b) because it helps you realize the amount of information which is presented in the book.  The book condenses and organizes all that information into a useful and useable form, so you don't actually have to wade through all those links (there are about 350 links!).  But, if you want more detail, use the links to dig in deeper into specific areas.

Happy reading!  Thanks for your support of XBRL.

(This is a joint post written by Charlie Hoffman and Wilson So Posted on July 14, 2009)

Hard as it is to imagine now, most publishing executives initially viewed the "For Dummies" imprint as a dubious idea at best. How could insulting potential readers by calling them dummies -- right on the book’s cover! -- possibly be smart marketing?

But the For Dummies brand became spectacularly successful. Faced with learning computer software from impenetrable manuals, readers came to view the “For Dummies” title as a sign of author empathy, not ridicule.

XBRL certainly comes under the “this stuff is complicated – help!” category of difficult technical topics that the imprint has traditionally covered (before it took up less challenging subjects, like hamsters and indoor grilling). Many readers will likely be familiar with Hitachi’s XBRL for Dummies book written by Peter Weverka and Wilson So. In October, Wiley will publish an XBRL for Dummies book written by Charlie Hoffman, the father of XBRL, and Liv Watson, one of the pioneers in the field. With two books with the same name, we thought it would be useful to tell you a bit about each.

Hitachi XBRL for Dummies https://store.nationalmailing.com/xbrl/ is a short-and-sweet intro to interactive data in 84 pages. Published last year, it defines XBRL and includes a brief history; it dispels common myths and describes the standard’s benefits. Notably, the book explains how XBRL is being used by companies for both external and internal reporting, as well as its potential uses in government.

At 384 pages, Charlie and Liv’s XBRL for Dummies is a more comprehensive volume. As Charlie states on his blog http://xbrl.squarespace.com/journal/2009/4/25/wiley-publishes-xbrl-for-dummies.html:

I am doing my best to condense my 11 years of working on XBRL including hundreds of conference calls, meetings, working with others in creating the specification, working with others creating taxonomies, and generally learning practical approaches to making XBRL work into the book.

The book will tell you what XBRL is, why it is, and how you can get your company ready for the new SEC-mandated business reporting standard for publicly traded companies. It is targeted at the business reader with no previous experience with XBRL.

Our advice (naturally): get the Hitachi Dummies book now and preorder Charlie’s and Liv’s book from Amazon.

This article has also been posted on Data Interactive, the Hitachi XBRL blog.

Wiley Publishing has made it public that they are publishing XBRL for Dummies.  Note that this is not a promotional version, but the real deal, already on Amazon.com and coming to a book store near you soon!

The authors of the book are myself and Liv Watson.  If you don't know Liv, she has been involved with XBRL from the beginning of XBRL International in 1999 and was one of the people which helped XBRL go global.

I am trying to pack as much useful information as possible for business readers into the book.  I am doing my best to condense my 11 years of working on XBRL including hundreds of conference calls, meetings, working with others in creating the specification, working with others creating taxonomies, and generally learning practical approaches to making XBRL work into the book.  The book will be packed with the best useful resources I have come across.

In addition to Liv Watson, helping out on this project are:

• Cliff Binstock
• Marc van Hilvoorde
• Rene van Egmond
• Christine Tan
• Eiichi Watanabe

The book is targeted at the business reader who has no experience with XBRL.  The authors and contributors have a very good balance between technical and business perspectives and bring this to writing XBRL for Dummies.

If you want to be sure some specific important topic is covered in the book, if you have a good software product you would like to be mentioned, if you have anything you might like to contribute which would help business readers better understand XBRL, or if you have an excellent resource you would like the book to point to...please drop me an email.