SEC to force Fortune 500 mpanies to inrporate XBRL in their reports by June this year.

Large UK mpanies with a US listing will have less than seven months to publish their financial reports using a web-based data standard called XBRL.

The Securities and Exchange mission has said Fortune 500 mpanies will have to inrporate the fledgling data standard in their reports by June this year.

XBRL Extensible Business Reporting Language is a technology standard that allows users to ‘tag’ business data in financial reports.

Supporters of XBRL claim the standard makes it easier for investors and shareholders to mpare the performance of mpanies and can cut financial reporting sts for mpanies.

However, critics say XBRL is too mplicated. Dennis Keeling, a business software nsultant, said: ‘There is a burden on software vendors to create the software and on acuntants to map the information. There are simpler ways to report.’

Other SEC-regulated mpanies will have until June 2010 and mutual funds will have until June 2011 to inrporate XBRL.