XBRL® For Dummies®

Chapter 13. Complying with the SEC Mandate

In This Chapter

• Understanding key aspects of the SEC mandate for XBRL use

• Weighing your compliance options

• Searching for the bright side within the mandate

• Discovering how the SEC mandate will indirectly impact non-SEC filers

This chapter focuses on key aspects of the SEC mandate to use the XBRL format for SEC filings, what exactly the mandate calls for, who will be impacted by it, and options for complying. In addition, we look into the future in terms of what the 21st-century disclosure system will look like and how you and your company will be impacted.

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Why the SEC Mandated XBRL

The SEC began collecting financial information from public companies in the early 1930s before copy machines, fax machines, and computers had been invented. People traveled to Washington, D.C., to public reference rooms to gather information they wanted to use for analysis or other purpose and then called key stakeholders about the event from SEC-provided payphones. In those days, you had to have pocket full of quarters if you went digging into SEC filings.

In 1984, the SEC spent $30 million to start the Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval (EDGAR) system. This system made public financial information available electronically. Companies were phased into this new system over a three-year period. In ...