1 Neal Hannon XBRL Educational Resource Center At Bryant College XBRL Education Co-Chair Phone: Simplify Digital Information With XML XBRL IMA National Convention June 17, 2001

2 Today’s Objectives Very Brief Overview of XML & XBRL Show you how this technology works

3 Evolution to Web Services Technology Innovation FTP, , Gopher Web Pages Web Services TCP/IPHTMLXML Connectivity Presentation Automation Browse the Web Program the Web Text Files

4 XML XML stands for: eXtensible Markup Language Universally accepted method of exchanging information

5 eXtensible Markup Language ……is a meta markup language the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) considers a universal standard for describing both structured data and the behavior of applications that process the language.

6 What Is XML? “XML is a platform-independent, self-describing, expandable, standard data exchange format

7 XML is Platform Independent Windows Unix Macintosh Mainframe Linux

8 XML is Self-Describing Example: – July 26, 1998 Describes the information, not the presentation Format neutral

9 XML is Expandable Whereas HTML has a fixed set of tags –,, XML lets you create your own tags –

10 How does it work? XML gives meaning to information through the use of tags Saeed Roohani Bryant College Chair, Accounting 29 Caution.. …Just because something is.. Does not mean it is accurate?

11 XML Document XML Document Core Schema Core Schema Company Specific Vocabulary Industry Specific Vocabularies Transformatio n Tools The XML Puzzle

12 How XML Works Improves the way companies -- and applications -- share information Enjoys strong industry and vendor support How XML Works

13 Why is XML so Important? Portable Vendor neutral Readable data format More flexible and easier to use than EDI All major software products are becoming “XML” enabled Defacto standards for data exchange Enabling new levels of interoperability

14 XML Widely expected to reduce cost of publishing to the Net by as much as 50%. And by next year … Gartner Group prediction 70% of all B2B transactions executed on the Web will be done using XML.

15 Who defines the tags? Tags are defined by industry consortiums Each industry’s standard tags are commonly referred to as a taxonomy

16 Astronomy Aerospace Music Industry Publishing or Mythology Chemical Industry Auto Industry “Content in Context” (Industry-specific)

17 Who’s Building Taxonomies?

18 Why XBRL ?  Enable business reporting that leverages the Internet & XML  Effective access and analysis of business reports  Improve corporate communications with stakeholders

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20 What software ‘sees’ is the differentiator and drives benefits (here is an example)

21 XBRL: A Fragment of a Raw Data $1,611 $1,648 CompanyFinancial Statement Line ItemLabelYearValue Coca Cola Co. Balance SheetCurrentAssets.Cashand CashEquivalents Coca Cola Co. Balance SheetCurrentAssets.Cashand CashEquivalents  Raw Data in Spreadsheet…  Same Raw Data in XML (XBRL) Format

22 Importance of Reporting ” John Chambers Cisco CEO Year End Earnings Release Call August 10, 1999 “ …[W]hat excites the CEO is the ability to know what the business is doing at any given point in time, react quickly to market shifts and competitive threats and remain in tight control while empowering employees to make informed decisions more quickly.

23 “ ” The Virtual Close … has, in my opinion, just as much impact on a company’s future success or lack thereof as the well- published e-commerce area. John Chambers Cisco CEO Year End Earnings Release Call August 10, 1999 Best Practice

24 Key XBRL Components XBRL / XML Specification (XBRL.org) –Global architecture/technology XBRL hierarchical vocabulary (jurisdiction/industry) –Dictionary of terms by jurisdiction/industry sector Style Sheets(preparer) XBRL enabled tools(market) XBRL - What

25  Market driven model –Start simple, be inclusive  Broad supply chain participation  Members support XBRL  Members do not compete on the “framework”  Build structure & systems to support open community & market development Key to our Success

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27 Additional Education Sources - Student Competition web.bryant.edu/xbrl

28 Summary FASTER –BETTER CHEAPER Our profession will have to follow technology and record business activity in an real-time mode.

29 To download slides……….