Amelia A Baldwin
The University of Alabama
Carol E Brown
Oregon State University
Abstract: This article reports on the initial speculation regarding the potential impacts of XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language). XBRL is a standard for the electronic formatting of financial information such as financial statements and performance reports. Its purpose is to simplify the flow of information between and among these documents and programs. Additionally, it is expected to both simplify disclosure and to ease the communication of financial information to users, analysts and regulators via the Internet. Here we discuss the impacts (and speculation about those impacts) that XBRL is expected to have on users, accountants, regulators and the financial communication process, in general. We also call for a more rigorous look at the myriad range of impacts of XBRL that are being suggested in the literature.
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