New York (Aug. 6, 2003) – XBRL - the Internet-based programming code for business reports – is likely to used in most accounting software by the end of 2004, according to a recent study from XBRL-US and the American Institute of CPAs.
The XBRL Software Vendor Survey shows that two-thirds of accounting software vendors have either XBRL-enabled at least one accounting software package or will do so by December 2004.
The survey also notes that accounting software vendors believe the demand for XBRL functionality within accounting software is on the rise. These vendors include Oracle Corp., Microsoft, Hyperion Solutions Corp., SAP, PeopleSoft, Accpac International, JD Edwards, and Cartesis.
"Our survey indicates that accounting software vendors with software for larger companies are setting the pace in the push to XBRL-enable accounting applications," said Louis Matherne, President of XBRL International. "What's encouraging is we've already seen that about 90 percent of the accounting software vendors serving larger companies are XML-enabled and that many are being readied for XBRL functionality. In fact, SAP, Microsoft and Oracle have already XBRL-enabled at least one product to-date."
Research also reveals that accounting software vendors have initially focused development efforts on products that output/export XBRL-formatted data. XBRL import functions will come later.
The first step in the process is to enable software to output XBRL data, and as market demand progresses, applications that can efficiently and accurately import and consume XBRL-tagged information will be developed as organizations begin to automate many of their business reporting processes.
The AICPA conducted a telephone survey of 21 leading accounting application software vendors was conducted during the second quarter of 2003. These vendors offered 59 different products. Respondents consisted primarily of product managers for enterprise resource planning, general ledger, and financial reporting software applications.
More than 50 of the world's accounting, financial, government, and software organizations are involved in XBRL-US. More than 200 companies and organizations are members of XBRL International.
For more information about the findings of the survey go to
--WebCPA staff
