Twitter, Facebook, iPhone Apps - not the usual stuff of a blog focussing on corporate reporting but then times-are-a-changing. 

Not so many years ago, I was involved in the production of an annual report for an international group that involved many late nights at the printers checking proof copies of the final report.  Once we were finally sure that every ‘t' was crossed and ‘i' dotted and the page breaks were in the right place we allowed the presses to roll.

XBRL implementation is gathering pace (see my blog XBRL - more than just a regulatory tool ? ) and alongside I am starting to hear concerns with the way things are progressing.  There are worries about the impact of XBRL on internal management accounting and also concerns linked with the proposed switch to IFRS for SMEs in the UK.  On a positive note, the European Federation of Accountants (FEE) has produced a useful project update on XBRL which is well worth a read.

As part of the ongoing review of its Accounting Directives the European Commission has instigated a consultation seeking views from stakeholders on the IASB’s IFRS for SMEs.  Comments are requested by 12 March 2010.

XBRL has been around for over ten years and for a long time has been a technology that has fallen into my 'must get around to learning more about this sometime' category.  But recent events have prompted me to dig deeper and what I have discovered has been a real eye opener.