Online services versus XBRL

The National Accountancy Survey (about which more later) makes it clear that the majority of accountants’ offices have placed the implementation of online services higher on the agenda than the subject of iXBRL. Whenever the subject of iXBRL comes up for discussion, it is mainly understood to be a way to evaluate all administrative work procedures at once. This also became clear at the  iXBRL-Practice Day  organised by Novak and GBNED. It became immediately clear to everyone present what iXBRL contains: data similar to a .pdf or .doc – nothing more and nothing less. By means of various demos it was shown how a file can be read in and kept in iXBRL format. It didn’t fill the room with ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’. Understandably, since there isn’t much to see in this small piece of iXBRL. A number of accountants spoke. They explained that iXBRL was ‘just’ the tail end in the whole administrative processes chain. When a lot of the work at the start of that chain is still done by hand, the impact of iXBRL implementation is minimal. The maximum efficiency benefit is only gained by digitising data from beginning to end and automating the work processes. And sadly we haven’t yet seen this in practice.

An iXBRL report whereby an accountant or entrepreneur can look at each entry in the administration to see which data there have a certain basic value was not shown. Logically, since there are no such systems yet. After discussions in the room it soon became clear where the people who were there stood with regard to this subject: right at the beginning. It is proving to be a major step for a lot of smaller offices to choose online accounting in order to be able to work online with the client. Of course reports are already sent via Digipoort. But it appears most software suppliers will be working on solutions this summer. Twinfield will also be doing so (August 2010). For a specific request – such as for a bank – it is relatively simple to produce a report in a standardised way. The pressure lies with the accountant who has to carry out this standardisation for all kinds of different administrations. It’s a real job! A logical starting point is to implement efficient work processes. Twinfield’s ‘Online Accounting’ subscription is perfect for this. This summer therefore we must work quickly on this: creating space for accountants to arrange and optimise their online services. We are happy to support accountants in doing this!