Unify and Automate Reporting

The eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) is the fast emerging global standard for financial reporting. XBRL provides organizations with the ability to unify and automate all internal and external reporting. By directly linking our XBRL Publishing module with our financial consolidation and reporting solution—the financial system of record based on a single integrated data model (IDM)—full XBRL reports are available in one application. This helps ensure efficiency in complying with regulatory requirements and critically extends trusted data from the IDM directly to key internal and external stakeholders without compromising the audit trail.

XBRL Publishing

XBRL Publishing provides unified reporting in a single financial performance management (FPM) environment and offers a complete integrated solution for financial reporting based on XBRL. This means easier maintenance plus faster and more reliable analysis for better decision-making.

Automation, Transparency, and Comparability
Tagging financial information not only enables a standard structure and provides context but also enables direct comparison of internal and external financial information for reporting and analysis purposes. All of this is an essential part of making U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) data globally accessible, consistent, and comparable. Beyond this benchmarking, the strategic value is clearly in the reduced costs due to automation, increased data accuracy, and improved financial communication and transparency. Once this publication capability is in place, using it to benchmark and compare results with external financials is the real value-driver.

Simplified Disclosure
Our XBRL Publishing module uses a reporting definition (taxonomy) to compose a report based on secure trusted data extracted from our financial consolidation and reporting solution. By simply pushing a button, your company can automate report delivery on a monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis, based on the defined mappings and any number of available taxonomies.

Flexible and Auditable
In order to comply with rules defined in the various taxonomies, the XBRL Publishing module collects additional data that may be required to supplement what's automatically retrieved from our financial consolidation and reporting solution—providing a full editing and audit history. The reporting process, including data changes and importing data sets, is all recorded for later auditing. This ensures full transparency and auditability from source to digital disclosure.

A Repeatable Process
Mapping between the chart of accounts and analysis dimensions in our financial reporting application and the chosen taxonomy elements has to be done only once. After this, the entire process of publishing the financial reports in XBRL—from the choice of the instance document to its actual publication—can be automated and re-executed at each closing period. This reduces the risk of errors, reduces maintenance costs, and streamlines the processes for collecting and reporting financial information.

Integrate Internal and External Financial Data for Peer and Competitive Benchmarking

Though strategic partnerships, we deliver XBRL-tagged data on publicly traded companies to our XBRL Benchmarking module. This gives your company the power to analyze actual and forecast data directly alongside its peers and competitors to create externally focused business performance management.

XBRL Benchmarking

Our XBRL Benchmarking module automates benchmarking against competitors and peers using XBRL interactive data. The solution offers persistent data stored in our integrated data model (IDM) for monthly comparisons and key metric calculations. Designed to enhance anomaly detection and analysis capabilities for financial, cash management, risk, compliance, and taxation purposes, XBRL Benchmarking also enables advanced modeling and scenario analysis for asset management and merger and acquisition (M&A) activities.

Automate the Benchmarking Process
The XBRL Benchmarking module offers a unique capability for retrieving XBRL-tagged financial benchmark data on more than 10,000 public companies going back eight years (32 quarters).

Updated financial data—balance sheets, profit and loss (P&L) statements, and cash flow statements—and standard metrics of your competitors and peers' financial performance can be accessed quickly and directly from our IDM. This enables your enterprise to benchmark and analyze its own financials alongside its competitors and peers to better drive performance and optimize the forecast process with our financial planning solution.

Drive Operational Performance
With this external view of the market, CFOs and business leaders can take full advantage of our financial performance management (FPM) solutions. Our Extended Analytics solution allows users to drill down, slice-and-dice, analyze, and perform ad hoc comparisons. Users can also chart and graph their own financials against the benchmark data to reinforce or optimize their performance management.

Support Strategic Planning
Because XBRL data is integrated into our FPM solutions, customer organizations have a foundation for strategic and M&A planning. With the permanent availability of competitive and peer data in our IDM, these enterprises can simulate a corporate restructuring and directly measure the impact of acquisitions on consolidated financial statements.