Upcoming XBRL Events: Furthering your XBRL Education

XBRL is a broad topic to master. We have been perfecting and mastering the language for years, and we are still finding new information each day.

Aside from reading the latest articles and attending webinars online, a great way to further your XBRL education is by attending workshops and conferences.

XBRL.us recently announced that the XBRL US National Conference will be held September 10-12, 2012 in Austin, Texas. This event is sure to be jam-packed with the latest information on XBRL.

The full conference schedule has yet to be released, but registration details are available!

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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.

Furthering your XBRL Education: Data Analysis

Up to this point, we’ve been making an effort to provide resources to simplify the tagging and filing process for XBRL. But what happens after the paperwork is turned in?

Most proponents of XBRL believe that the next step in the language’s evolution is finding better uses for data after the filing process is over. This week, we’re looking at a few analysts that are reinventing the way that the financial sector looks at XBRL data.

Some of the first breakthroughs, as described in this Tech Target article, involve giving private investors a more efficient method of tracking potential investment opportunities.

Users enter a company’s stock symbol to receive the last five quarters of financial data, perform calculations on it and share the results. The tool reports a handful of preset financial metrics, including percentage change, gross margin and quick ratio, according to Alex Rapp, a Calcbench co-developer. “These are simple things that an investor would be doing on their own, but spending a lot of time to do it,” Rapp said.

But this is just the beginning. Experts at XBRL.US held a conference on February 29^th specifically to examine the potential uses and benefits of XBRL data analysis. A recorded webcast of the conference is available here.

XBRL.US was motivated by the commonly-shared fact that financial companies are now swimming in piles of data, and that data has huge potential.

Now, the only problem is finding a better way to use it.

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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.

This Week in XBRL: Furthering your XBRL Education On YouTube

It may be hard to imagine a financial reporting language having a home on a network popularized by talking animals and David After Dentist, but XBRL has found its place in the video realm. This week, in part two of our efforts to further your XBRL education, we’re looking at some of the best, funniest, and most helpful videos YouTube has to offer on the subject. Once you’ve seen some of our suggestions, go ahead and leave us a comment or two recommending some of your top picks, and as always, feel free to ask your XBRL questions!

The MACPA put together this charmingly cheesy video explaining the absolute basics of XBRL. The prevailing topics cover what the language is, why we use it, and what the standard benefits of such a tagging language are. Admittedly, if you have been a faithful reader of this blog, you won’t find much new information here, but the video does serve as an excellent tool to explain the concept to new company hires, or to give you a concise way to explain your business title at the next conference you end up at.

In this video interview, MACPA member Bill Sheridan speaks to Louis Matherne, the FASB’s Chief of Taxonomy Development. Matherne weighs in on the importance of XBRL for financial reporting, as well as some of the less conventional uses for the tagging language. He also stresses the importance of improving your knowledge of XBRL, whether you are a CFO, or a low-level accountant. According to Matherne, a high understanding of XBRL can grant huge opportunities and benefits.

Avoiding Common Errors in XBRL is a long title, and a longer webinar, but this YouTube recording compacts a ton of information in a relatively short space. In around 50 minutes, this in-depth presentation will help you turn around unimpressive reports, and can help you avoid some of the most frequent reporting errors. Whether you are attempting to handle reports on your own, or are looking to outside help, this webinar can save you time and money, with no more hassle than sitting in front of a monitor.

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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.