XBRL All Case Studies

8/3/2019 XBRL All Case Studies

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Case Study

Public companies covered:

Users o XBRL data covered:

XBRL and Public CompanyBusiness Information

Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) is the standard or nancial and

business reporting that provides a consistent, accurate, machine-readable ormat

In March 2005, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) initiated their XBRL

Voluntary Filing Program (VFP), the early adoption program to prepare companies

or EDGAR submission o XBRL data. Through April 2008, over 75 companies have

led in XBRL ormat; approximately 10% are oreign companies.

The use o XBRL will make inormation more accurate, transparent and usable by

key audiences o the public company: investors, analysts, regulators, lenders and

others. Preparers at public companies have an opportunity to test out dieren

options or ling in XBRL ormat during the SECs voluntary program and prior to a

potential mandate o XBRL submission to EDGAR. In todays market, roughly 50% o

the VFP participants outsource the creation o their XBRL nancials to their nancia

printer, wire service or an outside consultant; the remaining 50% purchase a sot-

ware tool and perorm the XBRL creation themselves. This document provides case

studies or both processes.

xbrl.us


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3M Company initiated a discussion on the use o XBRL or its own lings in October 2000

when it hosted a meeting with PeopleSot, its nancial management sotware vendor, and

PricewaterhouseCoopers, its auditor, as well as an internal team. The 3M departments

involved included Corporate Accounting, IT, Tax, Sourcing, Credit, Internal Audit and Investor

Relations. Ater this groups initial review, 3M decided to monitor the progress and acceptance o

XBRL or external reporting within the marketplace beore creating XBRL nancials themselves.

Starting in the second hal o 2005, 3M began testing the development o XBRL-ormatted

nancials, excluding ootnotes and MD&A. 3M experimented with the use o a

do-it-yoursel sotware tool and reviewed the outsourcing option with their nancial

printer, Merrill Corporation. In September 2005, 3M external reporting sta attended an XBRL

seminar hosted by Merrill Corporation in Minneapolis and ater the conerence met with

PricewaterhouseCoopers, Microsot and other XBRL leaders to discuss their options or XBRL

creation.

In December 2005, the 3M team reviewed the tags (identiers that match the line items on

their nancial statement with elements within the taxonomy) that were used by EDGAR Online

in the development o its taxonomy. EDGAR Online is a nancial aggregator that developed

its own taxonomy and used it to create XBRL-ormatted nancials or all US public companies.

Comparing the tags chosen by EDGAR Online gave 3M some insights into how they might map their

nancials themselves and what extensions (company-specic line items not included in the US

GAAP taxonomies that 3M had to create separately or its own reporting needs) they needed to

create.

In January 2006, 3M received the necessary internal approvals to participate in the SEC Voluntary

Filing Program and on March 29, 2007, 3M was ocially announced as a participant in the SEC VFP.

3M decided to outsource to Merrill Corporation; they elt that Merrills experience helpingmultiple clients convert their nancials to XBRL gave them a greater level o expertise. With

Merrill, they had a partner in the process that could answer questions and share ideas, and by

outsourcing in this manner, they could be involved in the technology without putting undue

strain on internal resources. 3M did however, want to be actively involved in advancing the

standard and also, o course, in selecting the tags or their line items. They elt that the negatives to

outsourcing, including 1) higher out-o-pocket costs when using a service provider and 2) the

drawbacks to not being as educated about the creation process as companies that tag

themselves, were outweighed by the benets.

2 Case Study 3M Company - Outsourcing

3M Company - Outsourcing

Business Challenge Create and use XML-tagged data to improve thetransparency, data quality and integrity o publiccompany-reported business and nancial inormation.

Solution Format public company inormation in Extensible Business

Reporting Language (XBRL), using an outsourced service

provider.

Case Study

xbrl.us


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On June 29, 2006, 3M submitted their rst XBRL-ormatted nancials to the SECs EDGAR

database with their Q1 2006 10-Q. They have subsequently led their Q2 2006 10-Q (on

August 29, 2006), their Q3 2006 10-Q (on November 15 2006), their 2006 10-K (on May 16,

2007), their Q1 2007 10-Q (July 2, 2007), their Q2 2007 10-Q (on September 19, 2007) and

their Q3 2007 10-Q (on November 20, 2007).

Throughout 2007 and 2008 to date, 3M has participated in the XBRL US SEC VFP Team - a

working group o voluntary lers who share ideas and gather input. This group serves as a

sounding board or ideas rom the XBRL US Project Team on taxonomy and

documentation development as well as sotware development. SEC representatives oten

attend the regularly scheduled meetings o this group to get eedback and to provide them

with updates on SEC activities.

3M has been providing input on the new taxonomies and Preparers Guide, and will

begin using the new taxonomies, when nalized, eective with its year-end 2007 ling.

Costs and resources involved in the fling processMerrill Corporation uses Fujitsus XWand tool to convert 3Ms nancial statements into

XBRL ormat. Two o 3Ms external reporting sta worked closely with the team at Merrill.

They estimate that the initial process took about 80 hours o 3M sta time between gettingeducated, reviewing the tags and on through to nal submission. Subsequent lings only

took about 8 hours o 3M sta time. When 3M begins working with the new taxonomy, given

their experiences to date, they anticipate it will take about 24 hours to complete the rst

ling and then drop down to 8 hours again or subsequent lings. The out-o-pocket cost

or XBRL conversion rom the service provider was absorbed in 3Ms EDGAR ling and

printing costs, because 3M was an early adopter, and because Merrill beneted rom

the learning experience in doing the XBRL conversion. Ultimately, the costs o XBRL

conversion will be incremental to the EDGAR submission costs as they are easily separable and

distinguishable rom traditional ling activities.

Benefts o early involvement in XBRL3Ms early adoption o XBRL was spurred by a desire to be ully prepared prior to mandatory

Process or XBRL nancial

statement preparationThe current nancial reporting consolidation and review

process or 3M Company runs about 20-30 days or the

complete quarterly process and approximately 45 days or

the complete annual process. Major steps in the process

include the global consolidation o results rom 3M

subsidiaries around the world, reviews o general ledgeraccounts and nancial statements, disclosure committee

meetings and ofcer certication o results. The earnings

release is then created and issued, the investor call takes place,

while concurrently throughout the process the 3M team is

preparing the notes, MD&A and supplemental data. Ater

incorporating comments rom management and others, 3M

external reporting prepares the nal 10-Q or 10-K or EDGAR

submission. When XBRL is added to the mix, there are a e w

additional steps to 3Ms reporting process:

Final nancial statements are given to the1.

third party provider or conversion into

XBRL.

Proos are received back rom the service2.

provider or 3M review.

3M reviews the tags applied to their3.

nancial statement line items and gives

eedback to the service provider, i any.

I changes, the service provider gives the4.

nal proo to 3M or a last review.

XBRL-ormatted nancials are led via5.

EDGAR as exhibits to a Form 8-K.

I ast-tracked, the incremental XBRL steps can take one to two

days or the nancial statements (excluding Notes and MD&A),

or could be worked on simultaneously with the ofcial ling,

which could enable same day ling as part o the ofcial ling.

Fujitsus XWand Tool

3 Case Study 3M Company - Outsourcing


4/134 Case Study 3M Company - Outsourcing

XBRL ling with the condence that its rst ling would be accurate and timely. As an early

participant, 3M was also involved in the US GAAP Taxonomies development, ensuring that

most o its nancial statement captions will be covered in the taxonomy, thereby limiting the

need to create company-specic extensions. Through involvement in the SEC VFP with XBRL

US-organized teams o lers, 3M was able to share its experiences, learn rom other voluntary

lers and ensure that its issues and concerns were addressed.

Whats ahead and how preparers can gain rom XBRL3M believes that while uture benets may be years away, when more public

companies le in XBRL, the resulting data will be more easily comparable across companies

and consumers o that data will have more ready access to the inormation. Interactive

analytical tools available today have already demonstrated the power o XBRL in comparing

inormation and enabling greater access.

Getting started is not easy. From your standpoint (as a preparer), you are delving

into the unknown and the complex world o interactive data data that is not

pretty to view, but which is useul or downloads and analysis. However, once you

get over the initial hurdles and le your rst XBRL document, the eort becomes

more streamlined and less time-consuming. . . you can also use a knowledgeable

third party to assist with your eor ts.Tom Jacob, Manager, External Repor ting, 3M Company

About 3M Company3M is a global, diversied technology company that is undamentally a science-based

company. 3M produces thousands o imaginative products, and is a leader in scores o

markets rom health care and highway saety to oce products and optical lms or

LCD displays. Their success begins with their ability to apply their technologies oten in

combination to an endless array o real-world customer needs. For more inormation

about 3M Company, visit mmm.com.

What preparers should know

advice rom 3M Company

Get educated through webinars rom

XBRL US and other organizations

Start actively participating in the process

by reviewing the Preparers Guide

Identiy internal resources that need to be

involved in the process; determine XBRL

responsibilities and team, which should

typically be led by external reporting

Explore alternatives or implementation

and consider working with a knowledgeable

third-party to assist in the process

Estimate the time and cost commitments

Evaluate XBRL versus other priorities

within your organization

Discuss pros and cons with your

management team

Advise your management team that

XBRL is likely to be mandated

Gain management commitment on when

you should begin participating in the SECVoluntary Filing Program

For more inormation about XBRL,

visit xbrl.us

For more inormation about 3M

Company, visit mmm.com

October 2000

September 2005

Fall 2005

December 2005

January 2006

March 29, 2006

June 29, 2007

August 29, 2006

November 15, 2006

May 16, 2007

July 2, 2007

September 19, 2007

November 20, 2007

Initial discussions about XBRL conversion

Attended Merrill Corporation seminar on XBRL

Began testing XBRL creation options

Reviewed tags created or 3M Company in EDGAR Online database

Obtained internal management approval to participant in SEC VFP

Became ocial participant in SEC VFP

Submitted rst XBRL lings or Q1 2006 10-Q

Filed Q2 2006 10-Q

Filed Q3 2006 10-Q

Filed 2006 10-K

Filed Q1 2007 10-Q

Filed Q2 2007 10-Q

Filed Q3 2007 10-Q


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Sta rom Comcast Corporation rst attended an XBRL US sponsored workshop in New York

in June 2006 which began their investigation into XBRL ling. Initial research eorts into

XBRL involved Comcasts Manager o Accounting Projects, the Senior Director o Corporate

Accounting and Reporting as well as its Senior Vice President, Chie Accounting Ocer

and Controller. Through the Summer o 2006, members o the Comcast team educated

themselves on XBRL and investigated the options o using a sotware tool versus

outsourcing to a third party. They chose to use a sotware tool because it gave them more

control over their own ling and a greater opportunity to learn about XBRL. Perorming the tagging

(identiying elements within the taxonomy to associate with line items on the companys own

nancials) was also less costly than outsourcing. The negatives to going in-house were dealing with

periodic sotware problems inherent with using a relatively new technology and not

having an extra expert in the orm o a third party provider that could respond to questions.

Ultimately, the Comcast team ound that they worked very closely with their sotware provider and

received a high level o service in terms o reviewing their lings and getting answers to questions.

In September 2006, the Comcast team selected Rivet Sotware, and its Dragon Tag and Dragon

View products, and prepared their 1st quarter 2006 10-Q in XBRL ormat. Through the Fall o 2006,

they converted their 2nd and 3rd quarter 10-Qs or 2006 into XBRL ormat. In December 2006,

representatives rom Comcast attended the XBRL International conerence in Philadelphia, PA. Also

in December, they made a presentation to their Audit Committee which gave them the go-ahead

to proceed with XBRL ling. On December 11, 2006, Comcast led their Q1 Q3 nancials in XBRL

ormat as an attachment to a Form 8-K.

On March 19, 2007, Larry Salva, Comcasts Senior Vice President, Chie Accounting Ocer and

Controller presented at the SECs Roundtable in Washington, DC and that same month, they

prepared and led their 2006 10-K in XBRL ormat. At this point, XBRL creation became part

o their regular reporting process and in May 2007, they transitioned ongoing responsibility or

XBRL conversion to the Comcast Financial Reporting team. Comcast subsequently led its 1st,2nd and 3rd 10-Qs or 2007 as well as its 2007 10-K.

Costs and resources involved in the fling processComcast relied on Rivets Dragon Tag tool to convert its nancials at a cost o $2,800 or the

license and support. There was no cost associated with the Dragon View sotware used or review

and validation purposes as it is provided ree o charge by Rivet Sotware. Comcast sta spent

about 120 hours doing research and getting trained on the tools themselves and about 60 hours

on the rst ling. Subsequent lings were much easier given that the tags (identiers or their

nancial statement captions) had already been identied and today each ling takes around 20

5 Case Study Comcast Corporation - Using A Sotware Tool

Comcast Corporation - Using a Software Tool

Business Challenge Create and use XML-tagged data to improve thetransparency, data quality and integrity o publiccompany-reported business and nancial inormation.

Solution Format public company inormation in Extensible

Business Reporting Language (XBRL), using a sotware

tool in-house.

Case Study

xbrl.us


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hours o sta time. In addition to the cost o the license, Comcast pays $710 per ling, which

includes the ees or the SEC EDGAR submission by its nancial printer and a review o the

Form 8-K by external counsel.

Comcast employees involved in the process include the Senior Accountant o SEC

Reporting who prepares the nancials in XBRL ormat. A detailed review is conducted by the

Manager o Accounting Projects and Manager o SEC Reporting. A higher level o review is

then conducted by the Senior Director o Corporate Accounting and Reporting, the

Vice President o Financial Reporting and Senior Vice President, Chie Accountant and

Controller prior to EDGAR submission. Others involved included external counsel to review

the Form 8-K used to submit XBRL documents, Rivet to assist in XBRL document preparation

and Comcasts nancial printer, RR Donnelley, to ensure SEC acceptance and to perorm the

actual ling.

Benefts o early involvement in XBRLComcast got involved in the VFP to urther their understanding o XBRL and to be

able to provide eedback that will infuence the direction o XBRL or ling. Comcasts

Senior Vice President, Chie Accounting Ocer and Controller is involved in FEI (Financial

Executives International) which was investigating XBRL at the time; early involvement in XBRL

Dragon Tag Screen Shot Balance Sheet Mark-up

Dragon View Screen Shot Balance Sheet Review

Process or XBRL nancial

statement preparation

Comcast uses HFM by Oracle Corporation or consolidation

and to provide baseline nancials or internal and external

reports, including the 10-K and 10-Q. The nal

preparation and ling o the Forms 10-K or 10-Q is handled by

the Financial Reporting group including the Senior VicePresident, Chie Accounting Ofcer and Controller, Vice

President o Financial Reporting and the nancial reporting

process owners.

Filing in XBRL ormat requires incremental steps to the

traditional process that do not commence until ater the

standard SEC ling is completed.

Data is populated manually rom the SEC1.

ling into the previous periods XBRL

mark-up worksheet.

All data in the mark-up worksheet is2.appropriately tagged and any new

extensions (company-specic line items not

included in the US GAAP taxonomies that

Comcast had to create separately or its

own reporting needs) that are needed are

created.

Any issues during the mark-up are rst3.

discussed internally; any issues that can not

be resolved are then elevated to the outside

sotware vendor.

Once mark-up is complete, an XBRL instance4.

document is created and validated internally.

The internal review process is perormed and5.

any identied issues are addressed. Comcast

uses an internally prepared review checklist

based o the PC AOBs Sta Answers and

Questions Regarding XBRL Financial

Inormation Furnished Under the XBRL

Voluntary Financial Reporting Program on

the EDGAR System.

The nal instance document is provided to6.

the sotware vendor or additional review.

A memo is drated highlighting key changes7.

rom the previous ling and distributed tosenior department management or review.

Concurrent to the memo circulation, an 8-K8.

is drated internally and sent to external

counsel or their review.

Once all internal and external reviews are9.

completed, the appropriate documents and

les are provided to the nancial printer

who validates and prepares the nal les

or ling.

Documents are ocially led.10.



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t Comcasts position as an industry leader and good corporate citizen. Comcast also

became a member o the XBRL US SEC VFP Team, a group o voluntary lers that were active

contributors to the Preparers Guide, reviewed the taxonomies, and provided direct eedback

to the SEC.

Whats ahead and how preparers can gain rom XBRLComcast believes that the ultimate benet or preparers will come rom the improved

comparability o inormation between companies and the ease o accessing such

inormation rom the EDGAR system. Instead o searching through pages o text, one will be

able to search or a specic tag that will retrieve the inormation that they need in a much

quicker ashion. Critical stakeholders o public companies will have access to more granular

public company data straight rom the source. In addition, XBRL provides companies the

ability to present their own inormation and tell their own story, as opposed to having data

aggregators tell the story or them.

We decided to create XBRL documents in-house and worked very closely with

our sotware vendor. Creating nancials this way gave us greater control over our

ling and allowed us to learn a lot more about XBRL and the individual tags.

Understanding the technology, being involved in the US GAAP Taxonomy

development and review went a long way towards helping us get our arms aroundwhat XBRL is and where its going.

Phil Gaudreau, Manager, Accounting Projects, Comcast Corporation

About Comcast CorporationComcast Corporation is the nations leading provider o entertainment, inormation and

communications products and services, with 24.1 million cable customers, 13.2 million

high-speed Internet customers and 4.6 million voice customers. Comcast is principally

involved in the development, management and operation o broadband cable networks and

in the delivery o program content. For more inormation about Comcast, visit Comcast.com.

June 2006

July/August 2006

September 2006

December 2006

December 2006

December 11, 2006

March 13, 2007

March 19, 2007

June 21, 2007

September 24, 2007

November 27, 2007

April 7, 2008

Initial discussions and attended XBRL US workshop in New York

Educated sta and investigated sotware and third party solutions

Selected vendor

Attended XBRL International conerence in Philadelphia, PA

Presented XBRL plan to Comcast Audit Committee & obtained approval to proceed

Filed Q1, Q2 and Q3 2006 10-Qs in XBRL

Filed 2006 10-K

Participated in the SEC Roundtable on XBRL

Filed Q1 2007 10-Q

Filed Q2 2007 10-Q

Filed Q3 2007 10-Q

Filed 2007 10-K



visit xbrl.us

For more inormation about

Comcast, visit comcast.com

What preparers should know

advice rom Comcast

Determine who within the organization is

going to be involved in all stages o the process.

Think through the entire process rom

creation to review to ling.

Investigate options (outsourcing vs. internal

preparation) and investigate several vendors

or each option.

Get proper approvals rom management and

Audit Committee.

Start early; the initial document is the most

dicult part and subsequent documents are

signicantly easier to manage.

Read the XBRL US P reparers Guide.

Attend as many seminars as possible and

talk to as many lers as possible.

Review other companys XBRL lings on the

SEC website.

Translate a very small section o an (XBRL)

instance document to gain an understanding

o the XBRL language.

Read the PCAOBs Sta Answers and

Questions Regarding XBRL Financial

Inormation Furnished Under the XBRL

Voluntary Financial Reporting Program on the

EDGAR System which Comcast ound very

helpul in creating their XBRL review process.


8/13

Whats ahead and how preparers can beneftFor preparers in the short-term, ormatting nancials in XBRL will result in incremental cost and eort beyond what companies

currently expend on their nancial reporting process. Longer-term, companies can expect to recognize benets through the

integration o XBRL into their nancial management systems and the use o XBRL within their general ledger. Expected benets include

improved consistency, reliability, accuracy, speed o reporting and ultimately cost-savings.

What are SEC voluntary flers saying?

One o the great benets o XBRL is that it allows analysts and other stakeholders to shit ocus rom more monotonous and

error-prone activities, such as keypunching voluminous amounts o nancial data into nancial models, to more value-added

activities, such as analyzing data and benchmarking nancial metrics and disclosures across companies and industries.

David Delott, Director of External Reporting, PepsiCo.

Interactive Data can serve to improve data access, accuracy and exibility, all o which are essential to users o nancial

inormation throughout the world. For that reason, we support eorts in this area. XBRL may prove to be a major steporward or the spread o interactive data and Pzer has been a proud participant in the pilot program since its inception.

While there are limited nancial statement lers using XBRL today, I believe the evolution o XBRL and SEC support or universal

acceptance holds tremendous promise or the nancial community. As a proessional, I appreciate the chance to be a par t o

this transormation.

Clare OLeary, Director Special Projects, Pfizer Inc

Although its difcult to say when it will come to pass, we expect that in the long-term, companies will be able to build XBRL

tags into their ERP/nancial management systems to create a single-source system. At that time, preparers will reap thesignicant benets o little or no manual entry, improved consistency and speed o reporting.

Patsy Ramsey, Director, External and Corporate Reporting, The Dow Chemical Company

It is the longer term potential o XBRL that holds the most promise or companies. Beyond the common benets o improved

consistency, reliability, accuracy and speed in nancial reporting, companies will at a minimum be able to leverage the

technology to enhance analysis, gain access to data across systems and applications, eliminate manual eort and strengthen

controls. The technology is there; the tools are there; and now the catalyst has been provided to begin exploring the uture

benets.

The longer term benets should accrue to smaller companies as well, as potential opportunities or application o XBRL exist

wherever there are manual processes, multiple systems, analytical requirements, external reporting obligations and so orth.

We truly view this as an oppor tunity and believe other preparers wil l discover this as well.

John Stantial, Assistant Controller - Financial Reporting & Analysis, United Technologies Corporation

8 Case Study


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Trevor Harris, an accounting proessor ocused on valuation analysis at Columbia University had

a vision o creating a robust ramework that allowed the comparison o companies globally with

superior analytics. In 1997, Trevor was hired by Morgan Stanley to implement his vision.

How tagged inormation improves accuracy and timeliness To create this analytical ramework, Morgan Stanley developed a taxonomy (collection o

nancial and business inormation terms) initially utilizing XML and subsequently changed

to use the XBRL specication. The taxonomy dened not only nancial concepts reported by

companies globally, but also analytical concepts such as Return on Net Operating Assets and

Adjusted EPS. Morgan Stanley utilized the data rom analyst models and loaded them into a

centralized database where analytics could be applied to both historical and orecast data. A

tagging tool very similar to that used by lers in the SEC Voluntary Filing Program was

provided to Morgan Stanley analysts that allowed them to tag (identiy line items in their models

that matched up with the terms in the taxonomy) and upload the results in an XML ormat into a

central database. When Morgan Stanleys analysts made adjustments to the rms economic

orecast, individual analysts were able to see the impact o those adjustments to their models inreal time.

The use o an XBRL taxonomy internally allowed Morgan Stanley to instill discipline and

consistency into their analysts workfow by establishing standard identiers or the history and

orecast o all data and or greater comparability across companies and time.

The work involved in the initial tagging o each analysts model was substantial, but once tagged

it was a relatively simple but still manual process to update the model or subsequent years

o historical and orecast data. Tagging or identiying o elements was now only required or

incremental disclosures.

A vision o XBRL in the utureThe application o the ramework and the robustness o the analysis remained limited by the

number o analysts covering companies and the signicant expense o acquiring detailed

data like pension, tax or lease inormation which was necessary or investment decisions.

The implementation o an XBRL-based reporting mechanism as envisioned in the interactive

data initiative will have signicant potential to not only improve the quality o analysis, but also

to expand the companies under coverage by large investment banks and small research rms

alike. The two obstacles that Morgan Stanley ran up against were the manpower required to tag

their models accurately and the large cost o acquiring the detailed data necessary to accurately

9 Case Study Morgan Stanley - Using XBRL For Analysis

Morgan Stanley Using XBRL for Analysis

Business Challenge Improve transparency, quality and accuracy onancial analysis through XML-tagged data.

Solution Use company and internal analyst data ormatted in

Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) or

investor analytics.

Case Study

xbrl.us


10/13

evaluate companies. The data available rom data aggregators solves the problem

o acquiring comparable data but it is expensive to re-distribute, is based on data

dictionaries that are specic to the data aggregator and lacks detailed data such as tax

inormation. To build a more comprehensive database, drawing in data rom separate data

aggregators, analysts must stitch together their dierent data dictionaries, which is not an

easy or completely accurate task. The problem is urther compounded by the aggregated

nature o the data which is orced to conorm to an aggregators data dictionary.

We ound the use o tagged inormation within Morgan Stanleys research

department gave us a greater level o consistency, accuracy and reliability in the

inormation produced and perhaps most importantly with greater timeliness. But

thats really just the tip o the iceberg - when signicant numbers o companies

are reporting in XBRL ormat, investors and analysts will have entered a new era in

conducting analysis.

Trevor Harris, Managing Director, Vice Chairman of Client Services, Morgan Stanley

About Morgan StanleyMorgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a leading global nancial services rm providing a wide range

o investment banking, securities, investment management and wealth managementservices. The Firms employees serve clients worldwide including corporations,

governments, institutions and individuals rom more than 600 oces in 33 countries. For more

inormation about Morgan Stanley, visit morganstanley.com.

10 Case Study Morgan Stanley - Using XBRL For Analysis


visit xbrl.us


Morgan Stanley, visit

morganstanley.com

How can the data be used?With the implementation o XBRL-based data or US

lers, companies like Morgan Stanley can start to use the

additional data and standardized XBRL taxonomies to

build comprehensive undamental analytics rameworks

that can be used in trading, risk management, investment

banking and xed income and equity sales. For example, in

the proprietary trading group, rich undamental data can

be used to build undamental analytics that will work in

conjunction with quantitative analytics to give the trader a

more comprehensive view o the risks to which the rm is

exposed. In risk management, the rm can create a global

view o their counterparty risk based on more timely data

about their counterpartys nancial condition. This should

reduce credit spreads or most companies and should limit

some o the big credit surprises o the past.


11/13

Microsot has been a long-time advocate o improving nancial disclosures and the

delivery o nancial inormation, and has been involved with XBRL development or several years.

Microsot became one o the initial members o the SECs voluntary ler program with their rst

XBRL ling in May 2005. When Microsots CFO, Chris Liddell, was asked to join the SECs

Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting in July 2007, he challenged an

internal, cross-group team to come up with an idea o how to develop a site that could

consolidate and summarize relevant nancial inormation rom across the companys various

public communications. Investor Central is the output o the teams work.

Using tagged inormation to improve communication with investorsIn January 2008, Microsot unveiled Investor Central (www.microsot.com/mst/ic), its

new investor-targeted website, designed to help investors better understand Microsots

business strategies and nancial results. Microsots main goal with the site was to create

something that catered to all investors, and especially investors who are new to Microsot or

check-in inrequently and want to see a snapshot o how the company is doing. Microsot also

wanted to create something that could be easily navigated and didnt contain so much nancialinormation as to be overwhelming. Finally, Microsot also wanted to reuse inormation that was

already publicly available inormation that is already being created in support o other purposes

such as earnings releases, periodic lings and investor presentations.

Investor Central organizes the data into tabs and includes a company overview and business

unit breakdowns as well as ull nancial statements both in tabular and chart orm. The site also

incorporates tiering o inormation, so that investors can quickly navigate and drill down into the

inormation o interest. Much o the nancial data used in Investor Central comes directly rom

the XBRL documents that Microsot les with the SEC. Data and text is updated automatically

through Microsots XBRL-ormatted documents.

Beore Investor Central, data ound on Microsots investor site was posted in html and wascreated each period by copying and pasting content rom their 10-Q or earnings release.

With XBRL, there is less copying and pasting o inormation and thereore, less opportunity to

introduce errors into the data. Also with Investor Central, the data fows directly rom the

XBRL-ormatted nancials already created so that content can be posted as soon as they

are created. Eventually, when XBRL documents are created and led as an ocial ling, that

inormation could be made available in a usable orm on Microsots website at the same time

that it is submitted to the SEC. That would hold true even or a smaller company with ewer

internal resources than Microsot has.

11 Case Study Microsot - Using XBRL For Individual Investor Analysis

Business Challenge Streamline the process and improve the quality oinormation provided direct to investors by publiccompanies.

Solution Format corporate data in Extensible Business Reporting

Language (XBRL) and develop an online reporting system

to automatically populate an investor-acing website.

Case Study

Microsoft Using XBRL for Individual Investor Analysis

xbrl.us


12/13

Today, Microsot maintains both its traditional investor site as well as Investor Central,

powered by XBRL. The company will eventually merge the two sites once it creates an

eloquent, ecient and compliant way to present the inormation. While today there is

incremental work because o the need to maintain two separate sites, the eventual merging

o the two is expected to ree up resources and streamline the process o populating the

investor site.

Using XBRL to populate nancial data in its investor relations website also puts Microsots

nancial results in context with its ootnote disclosures and Managements Discussion and

Analysis (MD&A) o nancial results. XBRL allows the linking o ootnotes and MD&A

directly to line items in nancial statements and allows viewers to see the ull story behind the

numbers.

12 Case Study Microsot - Using XBRL For Individual Investor Analysis

Who benets and how?

For Microsot, XBRL helps:

Provide timely and transparent nancialinormation to all investors large and small to help them gain a better understandingo how Microsot looks at its business and itsnancial results;

Reduce the likelihood o error in the deliveryo nancial inormation; and

Gives Microsot the fexibility to select thetaxonomy elements (line items within the USGAAP collection o nancial terms) that theyeel best represent their investment outlook,rather than rely on terms created by thirdparty data aggregators that may notaccurately describe their companys nancials.

For investors, XBRL allows:

Quick access to nancial data on the site,linked to the ull context o the nancialstatements.

Visual representation o XBRL data that canthen be downloaded and used or urtheranalyses.

The ability to drill down and gain betterinsights into the company through ootnotesand MD&A content drawn directly romnancial statement line items without theneed to have an in-depth understanding otechnical nancial analysis.

Microsofts Investor Central


13/13


visit xbrl.us


Microsot or Investor Central,

visit microsot.com or

www.microsot.com/mst/ic

XBRL provides a powerul mechanism to streamline our process or publishing

company inormation out to investors in a process that ensures higher quality o

data, more accuracy and consistency and quicker time-to-market. Companies

spend a lot o money and resources maintaining the investor section o their web

sites. XBRL can denitely improve that process.

Lisa Nelson, Group Manager, Corporate Accounting & Analysis, Microsoft Corporation

About MicrosotFounded in 1975, Microsot (Nasdaq MSFT) is the worldwide leader in sotware,

services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their ull potential. For more

inormation about Microsots Investor Central, visit www.microsot.com/mst/ic.

How can public companies add XBRL

to their investor site today?Companies that participate in the SECs Voluntary Filing

Program can quickly and easily provide a link to their

own XBRL lings and the SEC viewer on their site to give

investors a quick way to view and analyze their companys

nancial data. But ultimately, companies should build out a

ramework like Investor Central that incorporates XBRL

data and provides investors with signicant insight into the

companys strategies and nancial results.

Date post:	06-Apr-2018
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