Digital Financial Reporting

It all started with John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern's Theory of Games and Economic Theory.  Now it is commonly referred to game theory or gamification. Gamification is defined by Wikipedia as follows: (emphasis is mine)

Gamification is the strategic attempt to enhance systems, services, organisations and activities in order to create similar experiences to those experienced when playing games in order to motivate and engage users.

Gamified incentive models seem to be a way to understand the economics of digital for CPAs.

A game is defined as: Any interaction between multiple parties in which each party's payoff is affected by the decisions of others.

Here is more information: 

• Game Theory Explained in One Minute
• Gamification Done Right - The Do's and Don'ts
• 10 Examples of Gamification for Employee Engagement

More to come.

This is really interesting.  I got an email that had a link to The Self-taught UI/UX Designer Roadmap in 2021. That web page also mentions the Roadmap to Becoming a Web Developer in 2021.  What I really like is the organization, in particular these graphics:

What I need to do is create a Roadmap to XBRL-based Digital Financial Reporting Mastery and perhaps even offer a certificate when the roadmap is complete.  This would be "a deep dive guide on teaching yourself XBRL-based digital financial reporting from zero knowledge to a full-time role."

Here is the content for the roadmap, Mastering XBRL-based Digital Financial Reporting.  I just have to organize it.

Stay tuned!

I initially provided this summary of financial report levels in another blog post: (An example of each level is provided and here are more details about the levels; this VIDEO explains the levels; this PDF presentation explains the levels)

• Level 0: Not machine readable.
• Level 1: Machine readable, nonstandard, structured for presentation.
• Level 2: Machine readable, nonstandard, structured for meaning, no taxonomy (a.k.a. dictionary), no rules, no report model.
• Level 3: Machine readable, global standard syntax, structured for meaning, with taxonomy (a.k.a. dictionary), incomplete rules, incomplete high-level report model. (Level3a shows XBRL calculations also removed)
• Level 4: Machine readable, global standard syntax, structured for meaning, with taxonomy (a.k.a. dictionary), complete set of rules provided, incomplete high-level report model.
• Level 5: Machine readable, global standard syntax, structured for meaning, with taxonomy (a.k.a. dictionary), complete set of rules provided, complete global standard high-level report model, yields PROVEN properly functioning system and UNDERSTANDABLE report information.
• Level 6: All of Level 5 PLUS blockchain-anchored XBRL to increase trust.
• Level 7: All of Level 6 PLUS blockchain-anchored transactions and events.

I have revised the financial report levels slightly to make them more understandable. This is the revised set of financial report levels: 

• Level 0: Not machine readable. 
• Level 0a:Nonstandard syntax, nonstandard meaning. 
• Level 1: Standard syntax, structured for presentation. 
• Level 2: Standard syntax, structured for meaning. 
• Level 3: Standard syntax + Dictionary of Terms. 
• Level 4: Standard syntax + Dictionary of Terms + Associations between Terms + Rules 
• Level 5: Standard syntax + Dictionary of Terms + Associations between Terms + Rules + Model. (Complete, consistent, precise) 
• Level 6: All of Level 5 PLUS blockchain-anchored XBRL to increase trust. 
• Level 7: All of Level 6 PLUS blockchain-anchored transactions and events. 

Level 5 is the minimum that will work for XBRL-based digital financial reporting when report creators are permitted to modify the report model.  To understand all of this I recommend the following three documents:

1. Essence of Accounting
2. Understanding Method (Abridged)
3. Essentials of XBRL-based Digital Financial Reporting

Those three documents will help you understand the dynamics of financial information.

In his book, New Rules for the New Economy, its author Kevin Kelly helps you wrap your head around how the future will likely work. Many things in the new economy (i.e. economics of digital) will not work like they did in the old economy.  Believing that things will work the same is a fundamental mistake.  This is Kelly's description of the book:

The thesis of New Rules for the New Economy is that we are now living in an economy based on ideas and communication rather than energy and atoms. Further, this "new" economy has distinct laws or rules so it behaves differently than the previous industrial economy. To do well in the new regime, we need to grasp the new dynamics of information. I reduce the emerging principles to 10 guidelines, and suggest a few strategies for businesses based on each principle.

(You can get the book on Amazon here. You can download the free PDF here.)

Here is a summary of the rules:

1. Embrace the Swarm.
2. Increasing Returns.
3. Plentitude, Not Scarcity.
4. Follow the Free.
5. Feed the Web First.
6. Let Go at the Top.
7. From Places to Spaces.
8. No Harmony, All Flux.
9. Relationship Tech.
10. Opportunities Before Efficiencies.

Accounting, reporting, auditing, and analysis are evolving.  Be sure to read my blog post The Economics of Digital for CPAs. Understand the role of XBRL in this new economy. Understand how to use XBRL-based financial reports effectively. The old industrial economy and the new information economy will not work the same.  We all need to grasp the dynamics of information.

Don't think data, think information. Big, big changes are on the way.

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The Network State