XBRL—eXtensible Business Reporting Language—just an issue for IT professionals? Not quite. XBRL was invented by Charles Hoffmann, CPA, for experts creating financial statements: accountants, analysts and banks. So what is XBRL in a nutshell? A data format for annual statements? Yes, but XBRL can do more than that.

XBRL is the key technology for financial reporting of stock listed companies. In contrast to the historical use of paper and PDF sheets, the XBRL technology enables transparent digital communication of financial reports and enables user-specific selection of information.

XBRL enables investors to compare reports that are published in different languages (e.g. Spanish, German, Chinese, and French) side by side. Thereby, companies as well as analysts are able to use the references to the exact regulations and definitions of the accounting standards.