The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (IASC) has formed an XBRL steering group to develop a UK version of the putative online financial reporting standard.
The UK accounts body has developed a draft taxonomy for financial statement reporting which has been released to members of XBRL.org for review. The IASC taxonomy is an XML-based specification for the 'Commercial and Industrial' sector that allows users and suppliers of financial information to exchange financial statements across all software and technologies, including the Internet.
Intended as an international specification, IASC has formed a broad-based steering group in London that is in the process of developing the UK taxonomy for financial statements.
"Companies tagging their financial statements in XBRL can immediately realise some of its major benefits: a streamlined financial reporting process, technology independence, full interoperability, and reliable extraction of financial information," says Mike Willis, XBRL.org committee chair.
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter is the first public company to adopt and utilise XBRL in its financial statements. David Moser, managing director of MSDW says: "XBRL gives us two significant benefits - it leverages the efficiencies of the Internet by allowing greater access to and analysis by information, and it allows MSDW to streamline the preparation and distribution of our financial information, saving company time and resources. We believe XBRL is a powerful shareholder relations tool and will help all members of the financial information supply chain."