Rivet Software and PR Newswire announced today that they have agreed to partner to provide investor relations professionals a way to create and distribute their financial information in XBRL, the emerging financial reporting standard being adopted by investor and regulatory communities around the world.

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Based in Denver, Rivet Software is an innovator in delivering Financial Integrity Management applications that enable financial professionals to bridge the growing gap between marketplace demands related to emerging technologies and standards such as XBRL. PR Newswire facilitates the disclosure of material news, including earnings reports and other financial information for more than half of the public companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market.

The partnership will enable PR Newswire members to create their financial documents in XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language) using Rivet's Dragon Tag XBRL enabler. XBRL-enabled documents such as earnings releases and financial statements will be able to be sent directly to PR Newswire for distribution via a built-in interface within Dragon Tag that links to PRN Direct, PR Newswire's secure customer extranet. The Dragon Tag XBRL enabler is the first, easy-to-use Microsoft Office®-based solution that takes the complexity out of converting financial statements to industry-standard XBRL documents. PR Newswire is taking a leadership position by being the first commercial newswire to offer an off-the-shelf XBRL document creation solution.

"We strongly believe that XBRL has the potential to vastly improve the transparency of financial information and we are pleased to be doing our part in making this a reality," said Dave Armon, chief operating officer of PR Newswire. "Our partnership with Rivet and the Dragon Tag application gives our customers the head start they need. At the same time, by distributing XBRL documents as widely as possible through PR Newswire's secure and credible distribution system, we will be able to help our members take a leadership role in promoting greater transparency and the spirit of disclosure."

XBRL is a platform-independent standard based on XML that permits the automatic exchange and reliable extraction of financial data across the Internet. XBRL helps eliminate the need to re-key or cut and paste financial data by putting business report information into a single format that can be used for a variety of purposes. With a vast amount of today's financial data locked in proprietary formats such as plain text documents, spreadsheets and HTML, XBRL provides the analyst and investor community a more efficient way to quickly and easily analyze financial information.

The partnership is expected to also significantly facilitate companies considering participation in the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission's XBRL Voluntary Financial Reporting Program (http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2004-138.htm ), which is designed to assess how XBRL benefits the submission process for U.S. public companies sending financial information to the SEC.

"As regulators around the globe drive toward standardization of XBRL, accounting and finance professionals are searching for help in the creation of XBRL reports and in keeping compliant with the new and highly complex standard," explained Michael Rohan, president of Rivet Software. "Dragon Tag is the first user-friendly XBRL solution to ease the complexity -- making document tagging as easy as using Microsoft® Excel or Microsoft® Word. PR Newswire is well known for its leadership and innovation," continued Rohan, "so it is natural that Rivet would partner with them to bring Dragon Tag to the many early adopters who are their customers."

The Dragon Tag application provides the following benefits to help organizations lower adoption hurdles related to XBRL:

   * Support for the latest XBRL Specification (2.1) and XBRL taxonomies
     such as U.S. GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) and IFRS
     (international financial reporting standards)

   * "Drag and drop" simplicity that allows user to quickly associate XBRL
     information to existing financial data

   * Comprehensive review and validation features to help ensure accuracy
     prior to submitting or releasing XBRL documents

Both Rivet Software and PR Newswire are active members of XBRL International, a consortium of over 250 companies responsible for developing and maintaining XBRL and promoting its global adoption. Michelle Horowitz, who is Past Chair of the XBRL-U.S. Adoption Committee, leads PR Newswire's XBRL efforts including 'XBRL for Earnings Releases', a project that involved Microsoft, Bowne and SunTrust and illustrates the lifecycle of an XBRL-enabled earnings release from creation and distribution to retrieval and use. Rob Blake, Past Member of the XBRL International and XBRL-US Steering Committees, leads Rivet's XBRL activities and is a charter member of the XBRL community, having been involved with the consortium since its very first public meeting in October 1999.

About Rivet Software

Rivet Software is an innovator in developing effective and easy-to-use Financial Integrity Management applications. Based in Denver, Colorado, USA, Rivet Software is focused on addressing new worldwide technology requirements for the business reporting and accounting community. All Rivet Software products adhere to the emerging XBRL global reporting standard and work with the de facto standard desktop software, Microsoft Excel and Word. The company's management team includes industry veterans, founding members of the XBRL community and past advisors to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). For additional information, please visit http://www.rivetsoftware.com/ .

About PR Newswire

Now in its 50th year, PR Newswire Association LLC (http://www.prnewswire.com/ ) provides electronic news distribution, targeting, measurement, translation and broadcast services on behalf of some 40,000 corporate, government, association, labor, non-profit, and other customers worldwide. Using PR Newswire, these organizations reach a variety of critical audiences including the news media, the investment community, government decision-makers, and the general public with their up-to-the-minute, full-text news developments.

Established in 1954, PR Newswire has offices in 11 countries and routinely sends its customers' news to outlets in 135 countries and in 30 languages. Utilizing the latest in communications technology, PR Newswire content is considered a mainstay among news reporters, investors and individuals who seek breaking news from the source. PR Newswire's leading services include ProfNet Experts(SM), eWatch™, MEDIAtlas™, NewsPrompt™, MediaRoom™, Search Engine Visibility (SEV) and MultiVu™. PR Newswire is a subsidiary of United Business Media plc of London.

CONTACT: Rachel Asche, Director of Public Relations, PR Newswire, 212.282.1929 or rachel.asche@prnewswire.com.

Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click appropriate link. David B. Armon http://www.profnet.com/ud_public.jsp?userid=345162

Web sites: http://www.prnewswire.com
http://www.rivetsoftware.com
http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2004-138.htm

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000306/PRNLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/

SOURCE: PR Newswire Association LLC and Rivet Software