Welcome to XBRL For topic! Whether you’re a business person (such as a CEO, CFO, accountant, project manager, and so on) or a technical person (that is, a “geek,” software architect, developer, or database administrator, and so on), you have done yourself a huge favor by picking up this topic if you’re trying to find out what this global XBRL phenomenon is all about.
Some of you may have heard about the Extensible Business Reporting Language, or XBRL, before, and you’re perhaps somewhat curious about XBRL. You want to understand XBRL, but everything you’ve seen seems to be overly complex, technically oriented, and filled with jargon. Perhaps you can’t really understand what XBRL is from the explanations you’ve previously encountered, and you have no idea where to even start.
And chances are, you really don’t care about XBRL. The truth is, you shouldn’t care about XBRL. What you do care about is what XBRL provides and how it will impact what you will likely have to do in the future. You’re in luck, because we talk about that topic in this topic. We’re going to help you get started with XBRL.
We assume that you’re no dummy. You may not be an expert on XBRL, but you’re a smart, capable person within your area of expertise who is ready to see how XBRL can help you do things better, faster, and cheaper.
How This Topic Is Organized
We have organized this topic into five parts, each designed to serve a basic need:
Part I: The Very Least You Need to Know about XBRL
This part provides you with the absolute minimum you need to know about XBRL. Chapter 1 provides a conceptual overview of XBRL to help you get your head around what XBRL is. Chapter 2 provides a solid grounding in the essential concepts that help you truly appreciate why XBRL is what it is and how it works. Chapter 3 provides important critical details of XBRL’s parts and how those parts work together. Chapter 4 is an XBRL primer; you get a chance to look at the angle brackets should you care to. Chapter 5 finishes off this part. Here we explain how XBRL will impact various different types of people who interact with it.
Part II: Embracing XBRL for Classic Challenges and New Possibilities
The chapters in Part II focus on business information exchange as it exists today and an emerging alternative approach that views each of the links of your business information exchange process as part of a chain. Chapter 6 looks at what business information exchange is all about — how it’s practiced today, its objectives, business and technical dynamics impacting it, and the possibility of a new model for business information exchange. Chapter 7 introduces the notion of business information exchange as being a chain, stepping back from the individual links introduced in the previous chapter. Chapter 8 takes a visionary look the future of business information exchange and XBRL’s role in that future.
Part III: Successfully Pursuing and Executing an XBRL Project
Part III is about how to successfully use XBRL within your organization. It helps you avoid missteps before you make them. Chapter 9 helps you see how others are making use of XBRL. Chapter 10 helps you make a business case for XBRL. Chapter 11 helps you understand different approaches to implementing XBRL so that you can find the approach that is the best for you. Chapter 12 points out the things you need to consider when implementing a project which has an XBRL component by project phase. If you must comply with the U.S. SEC mandate, you’ll appreciate Chapter 13.
Part IV: Working with XBRL Taxonomies and Instances
You can dig a hole with a hand shovel, but a backhoe is more efficient, depending on the size of the hole, of course. It’s all about choosing the right tool. In this part, we help you understand the tools you need to work with XBRL taxonomies and XBRL instances. We also help you understand what to do with those tools.
Chapter 14 looks at what types of software applications you might use when working with XBRL and the purposes they serve. Chapter 15 is a step-by-step walk-through of things like creating, validating, and viewing XBRL taxonomies and XBRL instances. Chapter 16 reviews the modules of XBRL that make up the XBRL family of specifications in greater detail, pointing out where they can be helpful to you. Chapter 17 is XBRL taxonomy time! We focus on XBRL taxonomies, providing you with a boatload of useful information you will need. Chapter 18 is all about the XBRL instance, drilling into helpful details you need to know about. Chapter 19 is where we go out on a limb to help you plan your future. We take a peek at what may be coming in the short term and in the long term for XBRL.
Part V: The Part of Tens
Last, but certainly not least, the For topic institution: The Part of Tens. This part of the topic has three chapters packed with XBRL tips, hints, and other advice. You may want to read this part first to get some instant gratification. Or, you may want to read it last to provide the icing on your XBRL cake.
Chapter 20 provides ten ways to find out more about XBRL sooner, flattening your learning curve, should you have a desire to do so. Chapter 21 describes important technical concepts in easy-to-understand business terms, terms needed to truly grasp how XBRL actually does what it does for those who care about that level of understanding. And finally, Chapter 22 ends your journey by providing explanations for a number of commonly confused odds and ends, which may be important to more technically inclined readers.
