Retrieving Financial Information in XBRL

Hands on with the Next-Generation Edgar System

Fang Jianing, DPS, CPA/CITP

In the four years that have passed since the SEC's XBRL conversion mandate, most registrants have converted their Forms 10K, Forms 10Q, and other required financial reports from the document format under the old Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (Edgar) system to the data-element format under the Next-Generation Edgar system: Interactive Data Electronic Applications (IDEA). This provides a more efficient and less expensive data source for financial analysts, investors, students, and other users who need information on the annual or quarterly financial reports of publicly traded companies. Yet, due to limited opportunities in terms of education and training (Roberta Cable and Patricia Healy, “XBRL in the Accounting Curriculum,” working paper, American Accounting Association Mid-Atlantic Region Annual Meeting Proceedings, 2013), most of CPAs and users do not have the knowledge or skills necessary to take advantage of this new data source (Jianing Fang 2013, “The Progress of XBRL Conversion: Reviewing the Rules, Consequences, and Potential Remedies,” The CPA Journal, February 2013, pp. 68–71; Taylor Provost, “Not-So-Happy Anniversary, XBRL,” CFO.com, Jan. 25, 2013).