Supports Use of XBRL to Implement the Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act

MONTVALE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- IMA^®, the association for accountants and financial professionals in business, supports eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) as a requirement to implement the Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act. The act improves the efficiency and transparency of data that U.S. states submit to the federal government on how they spend child welfare funds. H.R. 2883 was signed into law at the White House on Friday, September 30, 2011.

XBRL is a global, freely available, standardized data format for exchanging financial and business information in a “machine-readable” format. IMA believes the utilization of XBRL will help both business and the U.S. government by creating a common format for the exchange and analysis of data critical to government and capital markets functions.

XBRL is also being proposed as the standard in other pending legislation before Congress. H.R. 2146/S. 1222, the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act), would require XBRL to be used by federal agencies to better monitor all federal spending and improve transparency and accountability to protect taxpayer funds. For more information, please see: “IMA Supports XBRL as Solution to Bringing Transparency and Accountability to the US Government and Capital Markets.”

“We urge members of Congress to pass the DATA Act and use XBRL as a tool to create transparency and accountability for government, much in the same way it did for The Child and Family Services Act,” said Brad J. Monterio, IMA Board member and Chair of the IMA XBRL Committee.

"By requiring the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to consider XBRL, the federal government is getting the tools it needs to deliver better data – which will help the Department better administer its child welfare programs and ultimately help states better serve children,” said the Hon. Kim Wallin, CMA, CFM, CPA, controller of the State of Nevada and IMA Board member. “We need to know who is and isn’t receiving federal aid to more effectively help our children in greatest need. I think it’s fitting that the first U.S. law mandating XBRL is helping our government better meet the needs of our most vulnerable children.”

IMA is a founder of the XBRL standard and a member of XBRL International, Inc., the global organization responsible for maintaining the XBRL standard.