The Financial Accounting Standards Board has expanded the use of interactive data-tagging technology in its official FASB Accounting Standards Codification.
The extra functionality makes it easier to access certain information about Extensible Business Reporting Language, or XBRL, elements of the U.S. Financial Reporting Taxonomy that link to the Codification of authoritative GAAP standards. The new functionality, which is available at the Codification Web site, is designed to help preparers of XBRL financial statements identify XBRL elements that might need to be considered.
The new XBRL functionality provided by the Codification Web site will help entities as they prepare or plan to prepare XBRL financial statements using the U.S. Financial Reporting Taxonomy, said FASB Chairman Robert Herz in a statement. Users will be able to very easily identify the XBRL elements associated with specific Codification paragraphs.
The SEC has begun requiring the largest public companies to file their financial statements using XBRL technology this year. The technology promises to make financial statements easier for investors and analysts to compare across companies and industries.
