Retrieving Financial Information in XBRL on the Next-Generation EDGAR

• In Event: Teaching, Learning, and Curriculum 4

Abstract

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has upgraded the old of Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) system, to the Interactive Data Electronic Applications (IDEA) platform, or the Next-Generation EDGAR (New EDGAR). In January 2009, the SEC issued its final mandate for XBRL adoption and the conversion target dates for all firms. This conversion enables users to retrieve listed companies’ financial statement information at both document level and data element level. This paper reviews the basic concepts of XBRL, reports the current compliance status of the SEC XBRL conversion mandate. The main contribution of this article is to demonstrate the data retrieval process, utilizing Microsoft Excel 2010, on the New EDGAR in detail.

Authors

• Jianing Fang, Marist College

• Ameeta Jaiswal-Dale, University of St. Thomas