As the world turns more and more to XML as a form of data interchange, many products are beginning to export their native data into some form of XML to be consumed by other products.
One emerging XML standard is the XBRL - Extensible Business Reporting Language - see http://www.xbrl.org for more information. Basically, it is a method of being able to output financial information (balance sheet, profit and loss etc) to a format that can be read by other systems.
Some of the biggest names in the software industry are XBRL-enabling their applications - Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Peoplesoft etc. Here's the XBRL data for Microsoft for the 4th quarter of 2004.
We've decided to add XBRL support to Totally as well. Some big names in the financial industry in Australia also speak XBRL - the ANZ, Aussie Home Loans, Bank of QLD to name a few - the the full list here.
How will using XBRL help your business? According to xbrl.org, XBRL can speed up, reduce effort and increase reliability in accounting and auditing tasks. So instead of tediously having to fill out bank forms, just give them an XBRL data file.
This means less work for you (because Totally will generate the required information) and less work for the bank and who knows, the banks may even reduce their fees and charges! ;-) Everyone wins.
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