Audit Processes and the Impact of XBRL

Impact of XBRL on the Oil and Gas Industry The Impact of XBRL on the Oil and Gas Industry Ernest A. Capozzoli Kennesaw State University Kennesaw, Georgia United States 22 September 2007 Oil IT Journal www.oilit.com info@oilit.com 22 September 2007 Oil IT Journal – www.oilit.com Page 1 of 12 Impact of XBRL on the Oil and Gas Industry The Impact of XBRL on the Oil and Gas Industry Abstract Accounting and financial reporting activities are facing substantial changes as a result of XBRL. XBRL stands for eXtensible Business Reporting Language. Currently there is an SEC funded initiative to enhance financial reporting in the EDGAR system and to develop financial statement disclosures in XBRL. The XBRL effort is expected to be completed by year-end 2007 and will contain over 200 financial statement disclosures. Ten of those disclosures are specific to the Oil and Gas industry. This paper will present a discussion of what XBRL is, provide an overview of significant worldwide and U.S. XBRL activities and assess the impact of XBRL as it relates to the Oil and Gas Industry. Introduction to XBRL In mid-2005, Gartner placed XBRL deep in the trough of disillusionment. Now it is heading toward the plateau of productivity and positioned to be transformational over the next two years (DeFelice, 2007). XBRL stands for eXtensible Business Reporting Language and is part of a family of "eXtensible Markup Languages" (XML) which ...