XBRL
XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language) is an XML-based computer language for the electronic transmission of business and financial data. The goal of XBRL is to standardize the automation of business intelligence (BI).
XBRL uses tags based on standardized accounting industry definitions to describe and identify each item of data in an electronic document.
The tags, which are read by software applications — not people — allow computers to sort through data and analyze relationships quickly. Because the tags are standardized, analysis can be conducted across multiple documents from multiple sources, even if the text in the documents is written in different languages. XBRL is an open standard which is overseen by a not-for-profit organization called XBRL International.
By 2011, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has mandated that all public companies must report their earnings using XBRL.
