A tale of two standards: A Pan-American study on XBRL data standards for U.S. and Brazilian local governments

• In Event: SET Audit Data and Data Standards

Abstract

In both the U.S. and in Brazil, the recent emphasis on greater governmental data transparency reflects the growing social demand for financial and efficiency accountability by the federal and local governments to their citizens and other stakeholders. In both countries, municipalities large and small are creating online data portals where citizens can access information of all types. In the U.S., the federal government is undertaking a four year long integration of XBRL as the reporting language of choice (DATA Act). This digital reporting language will also be used by recipients of federal grants for filing spending reports. In Brazil, the federal government is has already begun implementation of XBRL at the federal and state reporting levels under a universal mandate. XBRL has been demonstrated in many environments to improve data transparency. This study will compare these two country’s initiatives for transparent reporting and observe the best practices in Brazil that are appropriate for the U.S. This research will then demonstrate with a proof-of-concept the possibility of modeling and extending this XBRL integration in the U.S. from the federal level, to Single Audit reports, and finally to the local entity level. This paper intends to examine the overlap between the single audit elements and those found in the taxonomy developed by the OMB and US treasury. By extending this taxonomy, it would be possible to generate such reports using the same data sources, thus reducing the burden of redundant and disaggregate reporting. This paper also contributes to the stream of existing research that demonstrates the global nature of government practices, where successful approaches in one country can be inspirational adoptions in another.

Authors

• Deniz A Appelbaum, Rutgers University - Newark

• Stephen Kozlowski, Rutgers Business School

• Hussein Issa, Rutgers Business School