Want to use XBRL now?
What's new in XBRL?
What is CNW Group’s Response to the SEC Announcement?
What is XBRL?

CNW Group has partnered with EDGAR® Online, Inc., leading expert and developer of XBRL tagged data, to offer public companies an automated, cost effective solution that converts company financial information into interactive data, (XBRL).

The partnership enables public issuers, including inter-listed companies, to meet phase one of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposed mandate for submitting financial information as interactive data, starting Q1, 2009.

In addition, CNW Group is also ready to assist companies who want to participate in the Canadian Securities Administrators XBRL voluntary filing program to keep pace with their peers in the U.S.

For details re the CSA Voluntary XBRL Filing Program, please see the CSA announcements:

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced details of its proposed rule changes for its mandatory eXtensible Business Reporting Language filing program for U.S. and foreign issuers.

The proposed XBRL rule calls for a phased approach beginning with the largest U.S. and accelerated filers (defined as those companies with a worldwide float of $5 billion USD or more). The plan would initially target those companies that use U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), but will eventually encompass those that use International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Reporting for the first group of companies would begin with fiscal periods ending on or after Dec. 15, 2008, with submission to EDGAR and on the company’s own corporate website. The following year, all other large accelerated domestic and foreign filers would begin filing in XBRL and in year three, all remaining companies would be required to be XBRL-compliant.

For details of the latest SEC announcement please see:

http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2008/2008-85.htm

What is CNW Group’s Response to the SEC Announcement?

There is a 60-day comment period regarding the proposed rule and CNW Group, Canada’s leading regulatory filing agent and news release disseminator, will participate in the comment period to clarify which taxonomy and related tags would be used when furnishing XBRL to the SEC for U.S. listed Canadian issuers that currently report in Canadian GAAP and reconcile to U.S. GAAP.

For more information on CNW Group’s response to the SEC announcement please see:

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2008/20/c2233.html

XBRL means eXtensible Business Reporting Language. XBRL is a standards-based method with which users can prepare, publish (in a variety of formats), exchange and analyze financial statements and the information they contain. XBRL complements XML, which is the universal format for data on the Web that uses tags (identifiers) to describe and deliver data from an application. XBRL allows accountants and other financial professionals and regulatory organizations to identify -- by a tag -- items unique to business information, such as financial statements.

XBRL tags are like bar codes attached to each piece of financial data, allowing investors to easily find and compare key financial figures.

XBRL doesn't replace a news release, but providing an XBRL document along with your release makes handling financial data such as earnings or other financial statements easier, while helping to reduce errors. Ask your Investor Relations Officer, CFO or accounting or finance department liaison if an XBRL document is available for your financial releases and we'll include a link to it in your release.