Compliance Week Survey: Companies Aren't Prepared for XBRL

Nearly 80 Percent of Companies Lack Internal Expertise on the New
Technology, While 59 percent Have Done Little or No Preparation,
Despite SEC Mandate
BOSTON--(Business Wire)--
An exclusive new survey from Compliance Week suggests that many
publicly held companies are barely aware of XBRL, the financial
reporting technology the Securities and Exchange Commission is poised
to impose on Corporate America later this fall.

The SEC has already published a proposal to mandate XBRL for all
companies by 2011, staring with Fortune 500 companies as soon as next
spring. The public comment period on that proposed rule is already
half over, and SEC Chairman Christopher Cox has repeatedly called for
a final rule to be voted on and in place before he leaves office in
January.

Despite this, of the 236 publicly held companies surveyed, nearly
80 percent say nobody on their staff is well-versed in XBRL. More than
half (59 percent) of respondents say they either have just begun
reading up on the technology, or have done no research at all.

XBRL, formally known as eXtensible Business Reporting Language, is
a computer language that "tags" corporate financial data. That, in
turn, allows investors to find, study, and compare companies'
financial data much more easily than the text-heavy financial
statements used today.

The SEC has promoted the technology with retail-like zeal in
podcasts, online tools and a nationwide series of roundtable
discussions. XBRL proponents say the technology promises to
revolutionize how companies file, and investors use, financial
information--assuming everyone takes full advantage of the
technology's features. Compliance Week's survey shows that so far,
corporations aren't eager to do so.

"XBRL is going to be a significant change for businesses, probably
more than most realize," says Matt Kelly, editor of Compliance Week.
"The SEC is going to mandate this technology very soon, and right now
most companies aren't showing much urgency to start preparing for it.
Given that XBRL may pose some steep learning curves and technology
changes that take years to digest, it's an ominous sign that so many
are so unaware."

The survey, done by Compliance Week subscribers during June 2 to
June 8, also reveals that:

-- Of the 236 companies surveyed, 104 respondents (44 percent)
said they had just begun researching XBRL and their companies
had done no previous testing. Another 26 respondents (15
percent) said they had no knowledge of XBRL at all.

-- 79 percent said their companies had no XBRL expert on staff at
all. Some 19 percent had an expert on the financial reporting
team, and 2 percent had an expert in the IT department.

-- Sixteen respondents (7 percent) participate in the SEC's
voluntary filer program. Another 6 percent say they've done
some small pilot tests, and 2 percent say they've been testing
their own systems comprehensively.

-- Another 30 percent of respondents say their companies haven't
yet tested XBRL, but say they've been following the topic
closely.

-- No single industry seemed to be more prepared for XBRL than
any other.

About the XBRL Preparedness Survey

Compliance Week's XBRL survey is based on the results of an online
survey conducted of Compliance Week readers during a one-week period
from June 2 to June 6, 2008. In total, 241 readers responded. Of those
responses, 5 (or 2 percent) were discarded as incomplete, leaving 236
responses. The survey asked readers, among other things:

-- How prepared are you to implement XBRL?

-- If you have begun testing, what have you done?

-- Is there an XBRL "expert" on your financial reporting team?

Results of the XBRL preparation survey will be made available to
Compliance Week subscribers on Tuesday, July 1, and are available to
members of the press on a limited basis. Details can be found at
http://research.complianceweek.com, or by contacting the publication,
below.

About Compliance Week

Compliance Week is a magazine and newsletter on corporate
governance, risk, and compliance that reaches over 20,000 financial
and legal executives at public companies. Available in print and
online, Compliance Week features the insights of numerous governance
and securities experts, including former Securities and Exchange
Chairman Harvey Pitt. For more information on Compliance Week, visit
http://www.complianceweek.com.

All trademarks, trade names, service marks, and logos referenced
herein belong to their respective registered owners.

Compliance Week
Matt Kelly, 888-519-9200
Editor in Chief
mkelly@complianceweek.com
or
Mary Kae Marinac, 978-685-3136
PR Representative for Compliance Week
mkmarinac@complianceweek.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008