XBRL is revolutionary. But until its benefits are seen, this doesn’t matter.

2011: a review of XBRL in the United States

The year of 2011 marks several milestones in terms of the increase in quantity and the improvement in quality of XBRL data. Such changes will lead to widespread nsumption of XBRL data for the year 2012 and beyond.

On the quantity side:

Starting June 15, 2011, every mpany listed in the United States has been required to file their financial statements in XBRL, although many large mpanies have been doing so for more than two years.

Over 7,800 mpanies have submitted their financial statements in XBRL to the SEC.

There are more granular data from the footnotes: XBRL Level 4 detailed footnote tagging makes more this data easily aessible.

Many financial analysts will be satisfied if they have the most recent three to five years of financial data. Many large mpanies have had close to five years of XBRL data available now.

On the quality side:

More insights, better guidance: Armed with filing data from over 5,000 first-time XBRL filers in 2011, XBRL US, the FASB, and the SEC have been identifying mmon errors (see SEC’s Staff Observations) and nducting dozens of trainings, webinars and workshops to help mpanies prepare their XBRL filings.

More aurate and mplete: With the expiration of the limited liability provisions for XBRL exhibits two years after their first mandatory submission date, public mpanies will  be more serious about the auracy and mpleteness of XBRL-tagged data (see XBRL Assurance mittee).

Smarter XBRL software makes validation easier for preparers.

nsumption: the new theme in 2011

The two biggest XBRL events in 2011 reflected the shift of attention from preparation to nsumption.

“Get More Out of XBRL” is the theme of the 3rd Annual XBRL US National nference, held between Sept. 26-27 in Nashville, TN.

“Enhancing Business Performance” is the theme of the 23rd XBRL International nference, held between Oct. 25-27 in Montreal, Canada.

XBRL Challenge: a new push in nsumption

XBRL Challenge is a ntest anized by XBRL US to promote the awareness of XBRL. Participants will develop “open source analytical applications for investors that leverage rporate XBRL data”. The deadline to submit the application is Jan. 31, 2012. XBRL US will reward the final winner in February of 2012 with a grand prize of US$20,000.

Getting application developers involved in XBRL is a great idea. They can make nsumption by investors easier. They can create a new generation of financial applications.

As a software developer with a finance background, I fully understand the potential of XBRL. The global standard mputer language can fundamentally change how financial data is defined, anized, and exchanged. The language defines the attributes of each data and its relationship to others. The standard taxonomy defines mmon terms used in the dataset. The language and taxonomy are the nuts and bolts for financial application development. Financial data can be dissembled and re-assembled by mputer programs. Financial analysts can interact with the richer financial dataset in new ways.

On the other hand, the XBRL standard is mplex, even for software developers. Unlike HTML, XBRL uses many XML files, and each serves its own purpose. Grasping XBRL is challenging.

Challenges bring talents. Application developers will make XBRL transparent to end users. Some system or data providers may also make application developers’ life easier.

As Philip Moyer said in a recent XBRL Challenge webinar, there is a critical mass of XBRL data now. Get application developers involved. Let them play with the data. Good things will usually follow.

Let’s expect to see some amazing apps using XBRL data in 2012.