Louis Matherne, one of the early proponents and pioneers of the Extensible Business Reporting Language format, is leaving his role as the director of the American Institute of CPAs' XBRL program effective April 10.Matherne has accepted a position with the Information Systems Audit and Control Association and its affiliate, the IT Governance Institute. ISACA is a 50,000-member global group dedicated to information technology governance, security and control procedures.
A former senior audit manager at national CPA and business advisory firm Grant Thornton, Matherne joined the AICPA in 1994 as director of business assurance and advisory services, before being named XBRL director.
As press time, the institute said that a search for his successor had already begun.
Matherne will join ISACA/ITGI to concentrate on helping enterprises and IT governance professionals ensure that technology's value is maximized by aligning it to a business' functions in a measurable way. ISACA created the governance institute in 1998.
"XBRL was created through the AICPA and is transforming business reporting," said AICPA president and chief executive Barry Melancon, in a statement. "As representative of the institute's interests, Louis has played a significant role in XBRL's acceptance around the world."
The AICPA formally announced the XBRL initiative in 1999, and the international XBRL consortium has grown to include approximately 400 organizations in 24 countries, including one of the technology's biggest boosters, the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Last year, the SEC expanded its voluntary program for receiving financial information using XBRL. As part of the initiative, the SEC also issued a request for information from the software industry to assist the SEC staff in identifying ways to receive, store, view and analyze interactive financial data. A similar program is underway at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
XBRL is a technology that tags financial information through disparate applications and carries it through the business reporting chain. It can lower costs and provide enhanced analytical capabilities for users, preparers and consumers of financial statements.
