It’s that time again — filing season. Compiling raw data into something people can understand is not only your job; it is something you like to do. Ok, others may think this is odd, but we accountants love it! Even though you spend countless hours preparing your financials and disclosures, when you see the final document on the SEC website with all the data in tables perfectly lined up the way you want it, you can do nothing but smile. Because as accountants we take great pride in our work, and of course it’s nice to say: “Yes, I am finally done!”

Don’t worry. Your enthusiasm for spending hours upon hours collecting, inputting, and cross-checking data to build reports is shared by many. However, a thought frequently crossing my mind (and I am sure yours too) is that if there is a way to spend less time preparing, compiling, and rolling forward documents, then we can do what we really love instead — analyze the reports.

Processing a filing is a long, tedious ordeal and we all would love to cut down the amount of time it takes. Filing financial reports is a requirement for public companies, but why make it harder than it has to be? Using XBRL is a way to save time and money while producing accurate reports that fall under the SEC Guidelines. Yes, I said it. There is a positive to XBRL. I know – XBRL is a headache mandated by the SEC.

Although, did you know XBRL has been around long before the SEC mandated its use? It was introduced by Charles Hoffman in 1998. Mr. Hoffman recognized that data in an Excel spreadsheet is not portable because when data is plucked from an Excel spreadsheet, it loses its column and row identifiers. XBRL provides the benefits of data in an Excel spreadsheet without having to store it in rows and columns. XBRL tags data with unique identifiers that move with the data. This allows the data’s information to transfer with the data itself. The SEC realized the value of XBRL and adopted it as a mandate in December 2008. Ten years after its introduction!

Financial reporting solutions built on XBRL produce quality reports in a short amount of time by leveraging the underlying unique XBRL identifiers. This gives you control over the filing process and eliminates many of the unnecessary steps you currently have to do when processing a filing. Using XBRL allows the roll forward of your document to be done in a matter of minutes, with dates automatically rolling and data updated based on the new dates. No more find and replace! No more cut and paste! No more worries about data flowing through correctly!

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been dreaming about something like this for years. I like compiling data, but I also like being able to offer upper management relevant reports today that can help them make better decisions. This is now a reality with XBRL. It might actually let us spend a little more time with family and friends too! If we can offer both valuable insights to our bosses, and get a little more time at home, I don’t know about you – but that makes me one happy CPA!