In 2009,the U.S.Securities and Exchange mission (SEC)mandated that all public panies disclose their financial statements using eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL),a standardized method for reporting financial and business data that allows for easier analysis and improved pany parisons.Beyond the pliance mandate,however,enterprises have been missing a huge opportunity to leverage this rich data in areas of critical executive decision-making.

The value for doing so is clear.Financial disclosures are essentially platforms from which information on a pany’s operation can be mined as a source for in-depth analytics for ernance,risk and pliance (GRC)purposes and investment decisions.However,the reams of data these disclosures generate present challenges that require further analysis before they can be useful.

Prior to the SEC mandate,it was often a difficult and laborious process for analysts and business leaders to review,analyze and pare granular data points across various panies and markets.Yet this data is critical for proper risk management,ernance and pliance within the enterprise.By applying analysis to specific XBRL data ncepts or “tags”associated with the financial disclosure,panies may best use the information to their advantage.For example,a pany can analyze how much investment is specifically being made in innovation,represented by the “Research and Development”expense and pare its data to its petitors in that particular industry.Another example illustrates a pany’s monitoring of rporate margins of a particular business line in parison to peers.Are the pany’s sts increasing faster than industry peers?Is revenue declining in parison?

In order for XBRL data to be useful,however,it is critical that panies develop a disciplined strategy to how the data is llected and created within the anization;the data is only as valuable as the method used to llect it.panies must not only understand how the data will be analyzed internally in advance of applying XBRL tags,but how it can be used by external parties,including investors.Surprisingly,few panies are doing this.The smart ones are empowering their C-level executives and boards of directors by making the financial disclosure process a proactive resource in the GRC policy creation process.A strong approach inrporates the following process steps:

•Appoint a senior executive to own the down data strategy for the firm.This is usually the chief financial officer,but can also be the chief marketing officer,investor relations officer or,increasingly,the chief information officer.Once a firm develops an understanding of how they want the data they are creating to be used internally and externally,it can apply proper pliance procres for disclosure creation and implement software applications to help facilitate the process of analyzing the data.

•As it pertains to the authoring of the financial disclosure,develop a formal XBRL policy using a third-party-created exhibit as a starting point.Properly developed,documented and formalized disclosure creation policies should have basic,repeatable steps,such as:plan,map,review,test and file.The SEC remends inrporating this plan into existing disclosure ntrols and procres.

•Select a XBRL creation tool that can help simplify and structure the tagging process.This allows the data to be nsumed and analyzed in internal systems,retaining data integrity and centralization better than various spreadsheets that may ntain data errors.(R.R.Donnelley’s ActiveDisclosure is one of several of these disclosure authoring tools.

•Implement a sound quality ntrol process,as inrrectly tagged data will lead to inrrect analysis.With this process errors are largely avoided since the element is tagged a single time with internal calculation and validation engines to check data integrity and are much less prone to error than manual input.

Once this quality XBRL data has been llected,submitted to the SEC and validated,panies and investors may apply analytical tools that will provide insight into the figures for use in market research,pany parisons,informed decision-making and clear munication with investors and stakeholders.It provides three primary benefits to all stakeholders:

1.Transparency:Investors want to truly understand the operations and drivers of the panies in which they are investing.For example,investors can now aess granular data regarding various revenue and expense items and not rely on mercial research sources to do so.This added layer of transparency allows the investor to evaluate recurring revenues and expenses and pare them to one-time or short-term revenues and expenses,a key factor in formulating a fair value assessment of the pany.

2.parability:executive management and investors can use XBRL data to pare data points historically,across various firms or internally across departments,allowing for executives to identify trends and implement policies to take advantage of any market opportunities.While panies may change a line item label,the underlying element should remain nsistent.An example of this can be represented with segmented revenue data.If a pany changes their United States revenue line item to be listed as “U.S.A.revenue,”the underlying XBRL identifier will remain nsistent across time.Both tags are bined to retrieve a value for revenue from the United States,which is reported in the business segment section of the notes to financial statements.

3.Risk management:There is an increased focus by C-level executives and the boards of directors on how to best manage external and internal risks to avoid scandals,increase pany valuation and drive market growth.XBRL data provides a deeper analysis of operations within various departments and allows for better informed decision-making.For example,management can quickly track leverage ratios and profitability margins against a peer set.Firms with defined-benefit pension plans can easily pare the expected return on the plans’investments and determine if they are reasonable with respect to the mix of portfolio assets;or alternatively,if aggressive assumptions are used and a larger pension expense may be on the horizon.

The importance of a proactive data strategy within the rporate executive suite has never been more critical than it is today.Business leaders are expected to be armed with in-depth analysis of their pany’s operations and their petitive landscape in order to best propel growth and leadership.XBRL data provides executives and investors with the ability to easily pare and analyze the massive amount of data from financial disclosures for improved decision-making.The SEC got the ball rolling by mandating XBRL data llection;now it’s time for panies to start applying best practices and use it.

 中文新闻：浅析为何企业应关注XBRL数据