XBRL. Learn to: Charles Hoffman, CPA Liv Apneseth Watson. Making Everything Easier! Understand XBRL and its implications for your organization

Transcription

1 Making Everything Easier! XBRL Learn to: Understand XBRL and its implications for your organization Plan for XBRL implementation and set action-oriented agendas Adapt existing US GAAP and IFRS financial information into the XBRL format Make sense of XBRL using simple, hands-on exercises Charles Hoffman, CPA Liv Apneseth Watson

2 Get More and Do More at Dummies.com Start with FREE Cheat Sheets Cheat Sheets include Checklists Charts Common Instructions And Other Good Stuff! To access the Cheat Sheet created specifically for this book, go to Get Smart at Dummies.com Dummies.com makes your life easier with 1,000s of answers on everything from removing wallpaper to using the latest version of Windows. Check out our Videos Illustrated Articles Step-by-Step Instructions Plus, each month you can win valuable prizes by entering our Dummies.com sweepstakes. * Want a weekly dose of Dummies? Sign up for Newsletters on Digital Photography Microsoft Windows & Office Personal Finance & Investing Health & Wellness Computing, ipods & Cell Phones ebay Internet Food, Home & Garden Find out HOW at Dummies.com *Sweepstakes not currently available in all countries; visit Dummies.com for official rules.

3 XBRL FOR DUMmIES by Charles Hoffman, CPA, and Liv Apneseth Watson with Marc van Hilvoorde; Christine Tan, PhD; Raynier van Egmond; and Eiichi Watanabe

4 XBRL For Dummies Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River Street Hoboken, NJ Copyright 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) , fax (978) Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) , fax (201) , or online at Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com, Making Everything Easier, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/ or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. XBRL is a registered trademark of XBRL International, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITH- OUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZA- TION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ. For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at , outside the U.S. at , or fax For technical support, please visit Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Library of Congress Control Number: ISBN: Manufactured in the United States of America

5 About the Authors and Contributors Charles Hoffman: Charlie (Tacoma, Washington, United States), a certified public accountant (CPA), is credited as being the Father of XBRL. He was co-editor of the first ever XBRL taxonomy and played major roles in creating both the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and United States Generally Accepted Accounting Standards (US GAAP) XBRL taxonomies. He was a major contributor to the following: XBRL 2.1 specification, XBRL Dimensions specification, Financial Reporting Taxonomies Architecture (FRTA), and Financial Reporting Instance Standards (FRIS). Prior to his involvement with XBRL, Charlie served as an auditor for what was then Price Waterhouse, financial officer for a number of companies, and an accounting software implementation consultant. In 1997, Charlie was the recipient of the AICPA Innovative User of Technology award. He was named by Accounting Technology magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the accounting profession. In 2006, Charlie received the AICPA Special Recognition Award for his pioneering role in the development of XBRL. Charlie is a graduate of Pacific Lutheran University (BA and MBA), and in 2007, he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from PLU for his efforts in creating XBRL. Currently, Charlie is Director of Innovative Solutions for UBmatrix LLC. He maintains a blog about XBRL at Liv Apneseth Watson: Liv (New York City, New York, United States) is one of the founders of XBRL International and serves on the XBRL International Steering Committee and as Vice Chairman of XBRL International. She has also played a number of leadership roles with XBRL US. Currently, Liv is a member of the Board of Director of IRIS India Business Services Private Limited. Prior to joining IRIS, Liv was the Vice President of Global Strategy at EDGAR Online Inc. [NADAQ: EDGR] where she was responsible for developing EDGAR Online s International business development strategy. Liv has presented XBRL to a wide range of audiences, from international standards bodies to Fortune 1000 companies, and speaks with authority about its benefits, potential applications, and broad adoption. Liv authored one of IMA s most successful CPE courses, Accounting System Technology for the 21st Century. She has also authored several published articles on future trends of the profession for international publications and journals, including Harvard Business Review and Strategic Finance and writes a monthly column of financial and business reporting trends for CPA2Biz. Marc van Hilvoorde: Marc (Oosteind, Netherlands) is a Chartered Accountant (CA) and a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) in the Netherlands. He has performed duties in the fields of financial and IT auditing and consultancy work for PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG. His knowledge of XBRL and standards-based reporting has involved him in leading roles in some of the major XBRL implementations, including the Netherlands Taxonomy Project. As the technical project manager, Marc and his team were responsible for the development and delivery of the Dutch national taxonomy. Marc was involved in the development of XBRL as member of the

6 XBRL International Standards Board, member of the IASCF XBRL Advisory Council, and past chair of the Rendering and Domain working groups. He s an important contributor to the public debate on the future of the accounting industry, audit innovation, and XBRL assurance. Christine Tan, PhD: Christine (New York City, New York, United States) is a university professor of accounting and has taught at the University of Melbourne, Baruch College; City University of New York, New York University; and the Melbourne Business School. Christine has consulted with governments and industry and business executives on matters pertaining to financial reporting and financial analyses. Her research has been published in leading accounting journals and presented at conferences around the world. She was also a key player in the creation of the US GAAP XBRL taxonomy. Christine is currently an Assistant Professor in Accounting at Fordham University and a Principal of Tag-IT Financial Tagging, LLC, a firm that provides XBRL consulting. Raynier van Egmond: Raynier (Vashon, Washington, United States) is an IT professional with more than 25 years of ICT development and design expertise in financial and manufacturing industries and research. He has been involved in the XBRL community since its inception in 1999, and he s been an active participant in development of the XBRL standard. Raynier contributed to and coauthored several parts of the XBRL specification and best-practices definitions. He managed development and deployment of XBRL solutions worldwide for the private, public, and nonprofit sector and national governments. He was the architect of the final version of the Dutch government Netherlands 2008 taxonomy and consulted as technical manager for the project responsible for quality assurance and its deployment. Through his company XBRL Consulting Partners, Raynier now works on developing XBRL solutions for the corporate social responsibility auditing process, with special interest in Triple Bottom Line accounting, and for the public sector information-supply chain management. Eiichi Watanabe: Ed (Tokyo, Japan) is a member of XBRL International Steering Committee representing XBRL Japan jurisdiction. Ed served various leadership positions at XBRL Japan since the inception of XBRL Japan in April He s the first Japanese person exposed to the XBRL world at the Technology Briefing for Federal Government held in Washington, D.C., in May Currently, he s a Technology Advisor at Tokyo Shoko Research, Ltd., Japan s oldest business credit information company. He s been engaged in Information Technology and Business Intelligence industries in various capacity for more than 40 years since He edited and coauthored several books, including XML-based Business to Business Systems (published by Ohmsha). He was a visiting professor at the Center for Research in Advanced Financial Technology of Tokyo Institute of Technology during , where he was a core member of the project team demonstrating the use of XBRL in building credit risk information infrastructure. He also served as a lecturer in computer science at Chiba University during 1991 through He graduated from Tokyo Metropolitan University with a BS in physics.

7 Dedication Charlie would like to dedicate this book to his daughter, Sophia, and her dog, Lucy, because Sophia will get a big kick out of going to a bookstore, picking this book from the shelf, turning to this page, and seeing her and her dog s name here. (Hi, Sophia!) Liv would like to thank the Watson twins, her daughters Ellen and Tess, which have put up with their mom traveling the world for the last ten years spreading the XBRL gospel. Authors Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank Wiley s acquisitions editor Kyle Looper and project editor Kelly Ewing for guiding them through the creation of a For Dummies book. The authors would also like to thank all the great people of XBRL International and others who they have met over the past ten years as they endeavored to turn the idea of XBRL into a reality for the benefit of everyone around the globe. There are far too many names to mention you know who you are! Charlie would like to thank his coauthor and contributors; the book couldn t have been created without them. Charlie would also like to thank his company, UBmatrix, a leading provider of XBRL software, for its support in allowing him the time to create this book and to share what he has learned about XBRL over the past ten years while working with UBmatrix and participating in the XBRL International consortium. Last but certainly not least, Charlie would like to thank his ballroom dance teacher, Carina, who helped him periodically escape from the world of XBRL and hard work involved in writing this book into the world of Foxtrot, Cha Cha, Tango, and Rumba, which helped keep stress levels in check and to otherwise maintain a good state of mind during this sometimes arduous process. (And besides, now Charlie can Tango!) Liv would like to thank Charlie for sharing his vision of what XBRL could be and the insights gained during the ten years he spent helping to create XBRL in this book. But most importantly, Liv would like to thank the Watson twins, Ellen and Tess, for standing by their mom while she travelled around the world planting the XBRL seeds that ultimately sprouted and helped get us to where we are today. I am so proud to be your mom.

8 Publisher s Acknowledgments We re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form located at For other comments, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at , outside the U.S. at , or fax Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Composition Services Development Project Coordinator: Patrick Redmond Project Editor: Kelly Ewing Layout and Graphics: Samantha K. Cherolis, Acquisitions Editor: Kyle Looper Melissa Jester, Christin Swinford Technical Editor: Cliff Binstock Proofreaders: Melanie Hoffman, Editorial Manager: Jodi Jensen Nancy L. Reinhardt Media Development Project Manager: Laura Moss-Hollister Media Development Assistant Project Manager: Jenny Swisher Media Development Associate Producer: Josh Frank Editorial Assistant: Amanda Graham Sr. Editorial Assistant: Cherie Case Cartoons: Rich Tennant ( Indexer: Infodex Indexing Services Special Help Linda Morris Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher Mary Bednarek, Executive Acquisitions Director Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director Publishing for Consumer Dummies Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher Composition Services Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

9 Contents at a Glance Introduction... 1 Part I: The Very Least You Need to Know about XBRL... 7 Chapter 1: Wrapping Your Head Around XBRL...9 Chapter 2: Taking to Heart the Essential Concepts of XBRL...31 Chapter 3: Glancing at XBRL s Parts...49 Chapter 4: An XBRL Primer...69 Chapter 5: Pinning Down How XBRL Affects You...97 Part II: Embracing XBRL for Classic Challenges and New Possibilities Chapter 6: Exchanging Business Information Chapter 7: Feeding the Business Information-Supply Chain Chapter 8: Seeing the Transformation of Business Information Exchange Part III: Successfully Pursuing and Executing an XBRL Project Chapter 9: Exploring the Common Uses of XBRL Chapter 10: Making Your Own Business Case for XBRL Chapter 11: Evaluating Different Approaches to Implementing XBRL Chapter 12: Considering How to Implement Your XBRL Solution Chapter 13: Complying with the SEC Mandate Part IV: Working with XBRL Taxonomies and Instances Chapter 14: Finding Tools and Services to Make XBRL Work Chapter 15: Creating and Using XBRL Chapter 16: Differentiating XBRL Modules Chapter 17: Digging Deeper into XBRL Taxonomies Chapter 18: Understanding the XBRL Instance Chapter 19: Predicting What XBRL Will Become...347

10 Part V: The Part of Tens Chapter 20: Ten (or So) Ways to Flatten the XBRL Learning Curve Chapter 21: (Nearly) Ten Keys to Understanding How XBRL Works Chapter 22: Top Ten Technical Odds and Ends Index

11 Table of Contents Introduction... 1 About This Book...1 Conventions Used in This Book...2 Foolish Assumptions...2 How to Use This Book...3 How This Book Is Organized...3 Part I: The Very Least You Need to Know about XBRL...3 Part II: Embracing XBRL for Classic Challenges and New Possibilities...4 Part III: Successfully Pursuing and Executing an XBRL Project...4 Part IV: Working with XBRL Taxonomies and Instances...4 Part V: The Part of Tens...5 Icons Used in This Book...5 Where to Go from Here...6 Part I: The Very Least You Need to Know about XBRL... 7 Chapter 1: Wrapping Your Head Around XBRL Answering the Question, Why XBRL?...9 Looking at XBRL in Different Ways...12 Dispelling Common Misconceptions...13 Compelling Reasons to Consider XBRL...15 Making life easier...15 Saving time and money...16 Helping you complete projects faster...17 Getting a Grip on XBRL Fundamentals...18 Tag You re it: Tags add structure...20 Dictionaries can be flexible...21 Dictionaries can enforce rules...22 Users can change report organization...23 XBRL processors get XBRL...24 Benefitting from Using XBRL...25 Discovering Other Ways to Use XBRL...27 Making XBRL Work for You...28 Chapter 2: Taking to Heart the Essential Concepts of XBRL The Problem That XBRL Solves...31 Building on Top of XML...32 XBRL isn t like other XML languages...32 XBRL versus XML...33

12 x XBRL For Dummies The Essential Objectives Driving XBRL...35 XBRL Is Powerful but Not a Complete Solution or System...35 Decisions, Decisions...38 XBRL uses XML...38 XBRL is a general-purpose specification...39 XBRL uses an atomic approach...39 Reuse is more important than presentation...41 The Realities of Business Reporting... er... Information Exchange...41 Paper has its advantages, as does digital...41 Information needs to be portable...43 Syntax is not enough...44 You need to be explicit...45 Specialized business systems are growing...46 Keep business rules separate...46 Business information exchange is a chain...47 Chapter 3: Glancing at XBRL s Parts Explaining XBRL in the Elevator, at the Water Cooler, or to Your Boss...49 Getting the Big-Picture View of XBRL...52 Agreeing to Agree...53 Agreement...53 Interoperability...54 Formalization...54 Meeting the Standards Bearer...56 The XBRL Family of Specifications...57 Key Common Taxonomies...58 Gleaning Guidance from Best Practices...58 Bringing XBRL to Life with Software...60 Features of XBRL in software and XBRL-specific software...61 A word about the XBRL processor...62 Looking at XBRL Logically...63 Framing a Logical Perspective to Understand XBRL...64 XBRL taxonomies express meaning...65 XBRL instances communicate and transport information...65 Networks provide options...66 XBRL taxonomies are flexible sets...67 Chapter 4: An XBRL Primer Getting Ready for a Geek-Fest of XBRL...69 Grasping the XBRL Framework...70 Discovering Fundamentals of XML for XBRL Users...72 Exploring XBRL Taxonomy Parts...72 Taxonomy schemas and linkbases...72 Discoverable taxonomy sets...73 Networks and extended links...73 Resources and relations within networks...73

13 Table of Contents xi Identifying XBRL Instance Parts...74 Achieving Flexible Business Information Exchange...74 Defining concepts and organizing with taxonomy schemas...74 Using networks to separate and organize sets of resources...75 Separating and organizing sets of relations by using networks...75 Exchanging facts with XBRL instances...75 Gaining flexibility through extension...76 Achieving interoperability through validation...76 Demystifying the DTS...77 Grasping the functioning of networks...77 Drilling into Taxonomy Schemas...81 Concepts...82 Pointers to other concepts, resources, or relations...83 Drilling into Resource Networks...84 Drilling into Relation Networks...85 Drilling into XBRL Instances...86 References to XBRL taxonomies...86 Giving facts context...88 Units provide additional context for numeric facts...90 Expressing the values for facts...91 Commenting with XBRL footnotes...92 Gaining Flexibility through Extension...93 Understanding extension...94 Reasons to extend...95 Chapter 5: Pinning Down How XBRL Affects You Why XBRL Is Worth Your Time...97 Defining You...98 By organizational type By role within an organization Part II: Embracing XBRL for Classic Challenges and New Possibilities Chapter 6: Exchanging Business Information Streamlining Cross-System Exchanges Business Information Exchange Is More Than Just a Report Examining the Characteristics of Business Information Exchange Today Clarifying the Objectives of Exchanging Business Information Recognizing Business Environment Changes Enabling Technologies to Impact Business Information Exchanges XBRL s Role in the Semantic Web...121

14 xii XBRL For Dummies Envisioning New Possibilities in Business Information Exchange New business information exchange model Format as a choice, not a limitation Transparency and visibility Information that is self-validating Interactive information System flexibility Metadata-driven system changes Information portability One version of the truth Semantic Web of information Plug-and-play information exchange Chapter 7: Feeding the Business Information-Supply Chain The Different Types of Supply Chains The Information-Supply Chain Business strategy transformed by the new economics of information A business information exchange platform An information-supply chain in action A Business Information-Supply Chain Building Your Own Information-Supply Chain in the Future Chapter 8: Seeing the Transformation of Business Information Exchange A Transformation Will Occur Gleaning clues from other transformations Reading the clues provided by early XBRL adopters Clues from financial reporting leadership in changing financial reporting The transformation of financial reporting Understanding the Transformation of Business Information Exchange Envisioning XBRL Killer Applications Starting Your Own Transformation Part III: Successfully Pursuing and Executing an XBRL Project Chapter 9: Exploring the Common Uses of XBRL Gaining Knowledge from XBRL Projects Around the World Wacoal U.S. FDIC Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) Dutch Association of Water Boards...160

15 Table of Contents xiii Dutch SBR Project U.S. SEC Australian SBR Project National Tax Agency of Japan Tokyo Stock Exchange Japan Financial Services Agency The MIX MARKET Nevada s state controller s office Nevada Department of Agriculture United Technologies Corporation Deloitte Australia U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Accounting and ERP Software State of Oregon CAFR Pilot Project Morgan Stanley PricewaterhouseCoopers idp Identifying the Common Characteristics of XBRL Projects Chapter 10: Making Your Own Business Case for XBRL Evaluating Business Use Cases Solving a Business Problem with XBRL Gleaning XBRL s Practical Benefits Benefits to all Benefits to those who specify metadata Benefits to consumers of information Benefits to creators of information Increasing Both Reach and Richness XBRL as a New Communication Medium Fitting into the Extended Enterprise Maximizing Economics of Information Chapter 11: Evaluating Different Approaches to Implementing XBRL The Many Ways to Implement XBRL Do nothing Outsource Bolt on Purchase software Integrate Create How Vendors and Regulators Fit into These Approaches Choosing Your Approach Chapter 12: Considering How to Implement Your XBRL Solution Discovering Your Vision Planning for Success...196