PR Newswire joins Microsoft, Bowne, SunTrust Banks, Inc., Reuters and others in a project that will demonstrate the benefits of eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) on the corporate reporting supply chain, PR Newswire announced today. The results of Cycle 1 and future plans will be presented at a New York workshop in December.
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XBRL is an emerging XML-based standard that permits the automatic exchange and reliable extraction of financial information across all software formats and technologies. It enhances the usability and transparency of financial information reported under existing accounting standards by reducing the need to manually key information, thereby minimizing the risk of data entry error.
"The goal of this project is to evaluate and illustrate the benefits of XBRL to issuers of financial news and to the users of this information, specifically creators, distributors and users of earnings releases," said Michelle Horowitz, vice president of Content Development, PR Newswire and chairperson, XBRL-US Adoption Committee. "The companies involved in this project have demonstrated how XBRL-enabled earnings releases can be created, distributed and used in order to facilitate greater transparency in corporate America, and have pledged to do their part to make the integration and transition as seamless as possible, assuming it is accepted as a standard. By creating XBRL-enabled earnings releases and distributing them as widely as possible through secure and credible distribution systems such as PR Newswire, companies can do their share of helping to restore investor confidence in the markets."
The project demonstration, announced at the XBRL International Conference in Seattle today, will provide a working example of how XBRL can simplify the process of reporting financial data by illustrating the lifecycle of an XBRL-enabled earnings release from creation to distribution to retrieval and use.
"XBRL streamlines the financial information value chain, from the creation of financial information within a company's systems through the distribution of external financial information to a company's stakeholders," said Curt Anderson, senior director of Investor Relations for Microsoft. "As more companies make their financial statements available in XBRL format, key financial information will be more easily and quickly comparable and analyzed across industries and companies."
In Cycle 1, Microsoft, SunTrust and Bowne will utilize a pre-release version of the Microsoft Office Solution Accelerator for XBRL, demonstrated earlier today in Seattle, to create their earnings releases in XBRL. The earnings releases will be viewable at www.xbrlforearningsreleases.com in the format they will appear once they are electronically distributed through PR Newswire. Reuters, the world's largest news agency, will assess how the media and Reuters customers will benefit from receiving earnings releases in XBRL. Future cycles of the demonstration will include real-time electronic distribution of the XBRL earnings releases and will illustrate how XBRL facilitates the use of financial data for investors and the media. More information on Office Solution Accelerators is available at www.microsoft.com/presspass.
"XBRL gives the financial community a standard way of digitally publishing, extracting and exchanging company financial reports and associated information. Reuters is interested in exploiting the power of XBRL to bring value to our customers," said Michael Porch, senior vice president, News Capabilities Group, Reuters.
Garry Lowenthal, chairman of the Financial Executive International's Committee on Finance and Information Technology said, "The adoption of XBRL promises to help companies make faster and better decisions and improve financial transparency, which ultimately boosts investor confidence. Additionally, widespread adoption of XBRL will permit financial analysts, investors, accountants, government agencies, internal users, and other interested parties to access, compare, and analyze data in ways that currently are not practical or even possible." Financial Executive International is the voice of corporate finance and the professional association of choice for senior-level financial executives worldwide.
Simultaneous to the announcement of the successful launch of the first cycle of this initiative, PR Newswire is extending invitations to other companies to participate in the next two cycles. "Although a handful of entities kicked off this project, it is our intention to include all significant industry leaders who wish to participate by creating their earnings releases in XBRL for the 2nd and 3rd cycles of this project," said Horowitz. The project cycles were developed to match the quarterly earnings announcement cycle.
PR Newswire, Microsoft, Bowne and Reuters are all members of the XBRL International Consortium (www.xbrl.org), a not-for-profit association dedicated to the research, development and adoption of XBRL as a standard format.
Company executives interested in participating in the next cycle of the demonstration project by XBRL-enabling earnings releases for distribution to key stakeholders should contact Horowitz at
About PR Newswire Association LLC
PR Newswire Association LLC (www.prnewswire.com) provides electronic distribution, targeting and measurement services on behalf of some 40,000 customers worldwide who seek to reach the news media, the investment community and the general public with their up to the minute, full-text news developments. Established in 1954, PR Newswire has offices in fourteen countries and routinely sends its customers' news to outlets in 135 countries in 27 languages. Utilizing the latest in communications technology, PR Newswire content is considered a mainstay among news reporters and investors as well as increasing numbers of private individuals. PR Newswire is a subsidiary of United Business Media plc of London.
About United Business Media Plc
United Business Media plc (www.unitedbusinessmedia.com) is a leading provider of business-to-business media solutions. Its products and services help companies around the world to meet their market information needs. UBM's businesses include NOP World, one of the largest market research groups globally; PR Newswire, the world's leading corporate news distribution service and CMP, the B2B media and exhibition group operating in focused markets sectors such as hi-tech, healthcare, property, entertainment, jewelry & fashion in the US, UK, Asia and Europe.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software -- any time, any place and on any device.
About Reuters
Reuters (www.about.reuters.com), the global information company, provides indispensable information tailored for professionals in the financial services, media and corporate markets. Our information is trusted and drives decision making across the globe based on our reputation for speed, accuracy and independence. We have 16,000 staff in 94 countries, including some 2,400 editorial staff in 197 bureaux serving approximately 130 countries, making Reuters the world's largest international multimedia news agency. In 2002, the Reuters Group had revenues of 3.6 billion pounds Sterling.
About Bowne & Co., Inc.
Bowne & Co., Inc., founded in 1775, is a global leader in providing high-value solutions that empower our clients' communications.
* Bowne Financial Print: The most comprehensive array of transactional
and compliance-related services to create, manage, translate and
distribute mission-critical documents.
* Bowne Enterprise Solutions: Digital printing and electronic delivery of
personalized communications that enable companies to strengthen
relationships and increase market leadership.
* Bowne Business Solutions: A full array of outsourcing services in word
processing, desktop publishing, information technology, litigation
resource management and office document services.
* Bowne Global Solutions: A broad range of localization services, which
help companies adapt communications developed in one country to meet
the social, cultural and business requirements for successful
distribution in another.
Bowne & Co. combines all of these capabilities with superior customer service, new technologies, confidentiality and integrity to manage, repurpose and distribute a client's information to any audience, through any medium, in any language, anywhere in the world. For more information, visit us at www.bowne.com.
About SunTrust Banks, Inc.
SunTrust Banks, Inc., headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is one of the nation's largest commercial banking organizations. As of September 30, 2003, SunTrust had total assets of $126.7 billion and total deposits of $80.5 billion. The company operates through an extensive distribution network primarily in Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Tennessee, Virginia and the District of Columbia and also serves customers in selected markets nationally. Its primary businesses include deposit, credit, trust and investment services. Through various subsidiaries the company provides credit cards, mortgage banking, insurance, brokerage and capital markets services. SunTrust's Internet address is www.suntrust.com.
About Financial Executives International
Financial Executives International is the voice of corporate finance and the professional association of choice for senior financial executives worldwide. Its 15,000 members are corporate financial executives in the highest echelon of the profession, cross-industry. FEI has for 70 years been a powerful advocate for corporate finance before regulatory and legislative bodies.
Contact: Rachel Asche, Director, Public Relations, PR Newswire at 212.282.1929 orrachel.asche@prnewswire.com
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