eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) is a digitally-based, common platform for business and financial reporting. The language is based on Extensible Markup Language (XML) and encodes financial data in a standard way such that it can be interpreted by a variety third party computer tools and applications. InnovationOwl feels that this technology will enable mass automation of financial analysis tasks using computer tools and applications.
The XBRL initiative is headed by XBRL International Inc., a non-profit consortium of companies and agencies. The movement towards acceptance of XBRL appears to be gaining momentum – the US Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) has issued a contract for a system based on the standard, companies are starting to publish financial results using XBRL, and many software and accounting heavyweights are now utilizing the language.
