What's in Your XBRL REPORT?

Approximately 9,000 US companies have submitted mote than 50,000 filings in Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) since the beginning of a three-year rollout that was completed in June 2012. All US publicly listed companies now must make XBRL filings at the same time as traditional filings to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Developing an XBRL-formatted financial statement requires knowledge of the financial statements, accounting, and XBRL. This is where the internal auditor can provide vital assistance in determining whether the company has a sound financial reporting process and established controls in place over the XBRL financial reporting process. Specifically, auditors can help assess whether the company is following steps needed to ensure the accuracy of its XBRL filings, including having an independent internal review process in place, adequately trained personnel to review the XBRL data, and appropriate tools to facilitate the review process. When reviewing the organization's financial reporting processes and controls, internal auditors should ensure that XBRL reporting is included within the scope of the review.