U.S. SEC delays XBRL road map meeting until May 14

WASHINGTON, April 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Friday it postponed a meeting to lay out a road map for companies to file results in an interactive format known as XBRL.

The meeting, initially scheduled for Monday, was delayed until May 14, the SEC said in a notice posted on its website.

The agency did not explain why it changed the date, saying only: "At times, changes in commission priorities require alterations in the scheduling of meeting items."

An SEC spokesman had no comment beyond saying the meeting has been postponed.

The SEC currently has a voluntary pilot program in which more than 70 companies file their financial data in XBRL, or extensible business reporting language. XBRL electronic tags are much like bar codes and can be attached to each piece of financial data.

The SEC previously said its April meeting would consider "amendments to provide for corporate financial statement information to be filed with the commission in interactive data format, and a near- and long-term schedule ..."

The agency has said it would propose that companies be required to file in XBRL, possibly in stages, with the largest companies subject to the requirement first.

The agency's push for XBRL has been led by SEC Chairman Christopher Cox, an advocate of using technology to enhance transparency and investor knowledge.

Members of an SEC advisory committee have voiced some concerns about the cost for some companies of adopting XBRL and any liability that might result from not properly following accounting standards when coding the data.

The committee issued an interim report in February that recommended the SEC go forward with a plan to require companies to use XBRL, but allowing a phased-in approach. (Reporting by Karey Wutkowski; Editing by Andre Grenon)