Posts Tagged "audit"
New release of SRCD Engine available in SourceForge
I just uploaded in the codexbrl project in SourceForge the new release of the SRCD Engine, a library of functions that leverages the Summary Reporting Contextual Data (SRCD) module of the XBRL Global Ledger Framework. These functions enable to convert between XBRL GL and XBRL FR instances and to process the link between XBRL GL and XBRL FR data; these capabilities are the foundation for drilling down from summarized XBRL data (XBRL FR) to the underlying XBRL detailed data (XBRL GL) and back, enabling the use of XBRL for internal reporting, auditing and more.
I will provide more details on these functionalities in an upcoming post. For now, I am very happy that we managed to release this just before the start of the XBRL Conference in Paris. I am pretty sure that this will be very useful for the XBRL GL training sessions that Eric E. Cohen and I will be teaching there on June 22 and 23. Great job, Iphix team!
Webcast: XBRL For Internal Audit Now Available
The recent (May 28, 2009) XBRL GL WG Outreach Call on XBRL and internal audit is now available.
The primary focus of XBRL is regulatory filings. But the same drivers that convinced governments and regulators worldwide of the value proposition of XBRL – process efficiencies, information transparency, significant cost savings in data integration, dissemination and analysis – are key to internal processes, and are achievable in an even more significant scale with the internal use of XBRL.
For internal auditors XBRL is obviously relevant as an additional corporate process that may require their professional attention. But considering it only in this perspective means missing the great opportunities that it provides in key areas such as systems integration, data access, assembly and overview, data quality, standardized audit trail, applicability of consistent data visualization and validation templates and controls across different business units and different software packages.
This webcast provides an overview of why internal auditors should care about XBRL, where and how XBRL is currently used, what “internal use of XBRL” means and what does it all mean for IA. Whether you are an internal auditor or not, if you ever asked yourself “I see the value of this for the SEC, but… what’s in it for me?” you may find some answers here.
XBRL For Internal Audit – XBRL GL Working Group Outreach Call, May 28 2009
How can XBRL help the audit process? In particular, what is the relevance of XBRL’s Global Ledger (XBRL GL) to the internal audit process? The factors driving adoption of XBRL by regulators worldwide are the process efficiencies, information transparency, and significant cost savings that it brings in data dissemination and analysis. These are obviously key processes, and benefits, in the internal environment as well.
In the latest outreach from the XBRL GL Working Group, WG Chair Gianluca Garbellotto will share his thoughts, based in part on The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) Research Foundation white paper, ”XBRL: What’s In It for Internal Auditors”.
Make plans to join us Thursday, May 28 at 4 pm EDT (20:00 UTC) for answers the XBRL community has been looking for!
Meeting Details:
Start Time: Thursday, May 28, 2009 4:00 PM EDT
End Time: Thursday, May 28, 2009 5:00 PM EDT
Attendee Entry Code: ZMRf),j(2
Toll free: +1 (866) 462-0164�
Toll: +1 (205) 354-0249�
Participant code: *7170411*
XBRL: What’s In It For Internal Auditors?
Earlier this month, The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) Research Foundation published my white paper XBRL: What’s In It for Internal Auditors, which I had the privilege to write with the invaluable review and advice of a number of individuals quoted in the paper.
This paper was initially conceived to address the results of an XBRL awareness survey among chief internal audit executives worldwide conducted by The IIA at the end of 2008. The survey showed only a partial awareness of XBRL by internal audit professionals. In addition, auditors were minimally involved in the actual process of generating XBRL filings even in those companies that are already using XBRL, either in voluntary or mandatory projects.
One of the objectives of the white paper is to fill this awareness gap by providing a comprehensive overview of what XBRL is, how it is being used in various programs across the world, and how it will have to be used to meet the SEC’s interactive data mandate, which starts in the second half of this year.
However, this is only one part of the story. Obviously, internal auditors need to be able to contribute to, and provide professional assurance on, the process of generating XBRL filings as they do with any other corporate reporting process. Still, XBRL’s value proposition in internal auditing processes goes far beyond being an additional format to which to convert financial reports. The white paper highlights the uses of XBRL that go beyond regulatory compliance, demonstrating how it enables the enhancement of critical processes in the internal space: data integration, reporting assembly, application of validation rules, controls, and visualization templates in a consistent way across the whole corporate information system.
Simply put, internal auditors should consider XBRL — and I am not referring here just to the US GAAP XBRL taxonomy used to report to the SEC, but to the standard as a whole in its various flavors as described in the paper — as a key tool to perform their functions more efficiently, rather than simply an additional reporting burden that requires their professional attention. XBRL enables moving from widespread manual, error-prone processes to automated and standardized ones in key data-related activities. It is something that businesses can leverage internally as a key technology and not just see as an additional compliance burden.
This concept is relevant not only for internal auditing, but for internal corporate processes in general. It can help executives making crucial decisions today on how to comply with the SEC’s interactive data mandate over the course of the next several years.
The white paper also examines different approaches to XBRL adoption, where XBRL can be either bolt-on at the highest financial report generation level, built-in deeper into the reporting layer of the corporate information system, or deeply embedded at ledgers level.
If a company sees XBRL as just another format in which financial statements have to be submitted for compliance, its management is likely to consider only the easiest options to create its filings: either create them under the existing process and convert to the new format at the end, or outsource as much of the process as possible. These choices not only represent a missed opportunity on the “internal” benefits that XBRL enables, but will actually be put to test by evolving reporting requirements. Additional reporting concerns like IFRS convergence and the “Year 2″ requirements already set in the SEC mandate, which extend the depth at which information will have to be tagged in notes and schedules, are reason enough to consider all of the options available and their implications very carefully.
In short, even if you are not an internal auditor, I think it may be worthwhile for you to get the white paper from The IIA website.
Originally posted on March 30, 2009 on the Hitachi Data Interactive Blog
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