Automated XBRL Reporting for Financial Governance

Why the recent buzz?

On 14 May 2008, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed the use of eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) for financial disclosure, beginning in 2009 for the largest companies, and by 2011 for all public companies. This much anticipated announcement follows a series of decisions made by regulatory bodies and financial services organizations across the globe to standardize the way in which financial data is distributed. Momentum around XBRL has gathered steam over the last few years with the Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporate (FDIC) mandating the use of XBRL for bank call reports of 8,200 US Banks with more than a trillion dollar in assets; the Shanghai Stock Exchange adopting XBRL for Chinese public companies; the banking communities in Spain, Belgium, and Japan adopting XBRL; the adoption of XBRL by the Committee of European Banking Supervisors using the Common Reporting Framework (COREP); and the Netherlands discussing the world's first full-circle implementation of XBRL for regulatory reporting for its federal and local government.

XBRL stands for eXtensible Business Reporting Language. It is a freely available XML-based standard for the electronic communication of business and financial data. XBRL is one of a family of "XML" languages which is becoming a standard means of communicating information between businesses via the Internet.

XBRL is being developed by an international non-profit consortium of approximately 450 major companies, organizations and government agencies. Fujitsu is one of them.

What does Fujitsu have to offer?

The biggest challenge that large corporations face while trying to adhere to regulations is with managing increasingly complex financial reporting processes. Very often, these processes are highly manually intensive and call for data inputs from disparate systems that are spread across the organization. Financial documents need to be reviewed, approved and audited by internal stakeholders and external compliance officers. Reports generated in different formats from multiple systems need to be consolidated and cross referenced.

By combining the power of XBRL with process automation, Fujitsu is in a position to help companies get a better handle on their complete financial reporting cycle.

Thanks to XBRL, financial information can be exchanged in a single format, which greatly eases the process of distributing financial information and increases the accuracy of such information. Converting reports into XBRL format takes the financial reporting process one step forward. However, it does not alleviate the problems related to financial reporting being highly labor-intensive and subject to errors. Fujitsu offers the unique ability to leverage XBRL in combination with process automation to help companies efficiently and accurately collect information, convert it in to the standard format, and ensure that the necessary reviews and approvals are in place before it is filed to aid compliance.

Companies can easily map out their unique financial reporting processes and use process automation to ensure that reports are distributed to the right people at the right time for approvals. By connecting directly to various applications across the organization, data can be extracted and converted to a standard format using Fujitsu's XBRL offering. By automating the financial reporting process, companies can track for bottlenecks and are alerted to irregular operations in the reporting process so as to be able to take prompt action to mitigate risk.

Who can benefit from Automated XBRL Reporting?

• Stock exchanges and regulatory bodies that govern financial reporting processes.
• Filing companies and accounting firms that manage the financial reporting process for their customers, either as a hosted solution or on premise.
• Large corporations with global subsidiaries or multi-layered organizational structures can benefit greatly from the solution. By automating financial reporting processes, companies benefit by reducing the time, complexity, and risk involved in consolidating and standardizing financial information gathered from different sources.

Why partner with Fujitsu for Automated XBRL Reporting?

Fujitsu has been in the XBRL arena since the inception of the XBRL Consortium in Japan. We continue to invest in the development of the XBRL specifications, in innovative offerings that adhere to these specifications, and also in facilitating the adoption of the standard across the financial reporting ecosystem. Users of the Fujitsu offerings include the Bank of Spain, Merrill Corporation, Dynaxys, Clarity Systems, United Technologies Corp and regulatory bodies in Asia like the Financial Supervisory Service in Korea and the Financial Services Agency in Japan. Fujitsu has the unique qualification of being able to bring its deep experience in XBRL and process automation together, to help companies become compliant and also improve on their financial process governance.

View Webinar: Automated XBRL Reporting- How to Get Started and Reap Benefits.