Continuing our theme of XBRL use in government, we are looking this week at an article published by the Maryland Association of CPA’s.
Portions of the federal government have already adopted XBRLfor financial reporting. The MACPA hopes that this trend will continue. They interviewed Hudson Hollister, legal council for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
"It should be possible," says Hollister, "for citizens, watchdog groups, media, and even the appropriators in Congress to use all of this spending data to judge whether government is working for them or not."
The solution, he and [California Representative Darrell Issa] believe, is a single platform for federal spending information, driven by a consistent, government-wide set of data reporting standards.
Sound familiar, XBRL fans?
MACPA believes that XBRL could allow anyone seeking financial information to find transparency in the federal government, something which many feel has been lacking up until now. Both Hollister and MACPA point out that the DATA Act would require the government to designate a reporting standard, and that XBRL would be the best fit for that purpose.
It is not hard to see how a system as widespread, versatile,and efficient as XBRL could be beneficial for a project as large as this, but only time will tell what the government decides.
Merrill Corporation is proud to offer XBRL Complete, a suite of services that meets - and has options to exceed – the mandated requirements for XBRL for mutual funds. For more information, please click here or call 866-367-9110.
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