Transformation Has Arrived

There is way, way too much hype when it comes to technology.  Many years ago I learned something really important: never trust a software company when it comes to understanding what their software applications can do.  Much better to see it for yourself.

This "XBRL thing" that I got involved with way back in 1999 has taken on a life of it's own.  One thing leads to another, then another, then another.  But here we are.  This is what I see:

This whole "knowledge graph" thing and this "artificial intelligence" thing are really not two different things; they are two things that will work together.  Standards are absolutely critical.  Also factoring into this is the whole "blockchain" thing.

For me, all of this equates to new ways of interacting with accounting information.  Modern accountancy is going to remove a lot of the grunt work from financial accounting, reporting, auditing, and analysis.  Modern spreadsheets will be a thing.  Model-based financial reporting will be a thing. Model-based semantic accounting working papers and audit schedules will be a thing.

I am NOT basing this view on what I think, I am basing this on my 20 years of experimentation using XBRL.  And frankly,  while one can do a lot with XBRL; there are other potentially better tools for the job available.

Here are some example financial reports that I have created based on a working prototype financial reporting scheme that I created from AASB 1060:

  • Reference Implementation (all reporting alternatives combined into one report)
  • BSC-ISN (classified balance sheet, income statement by nature)
  • BSC-ISF (classified balance sheet, income statement by function)
  • BSN-ISF (net assets approach balance sheet, income statement by function)
  • BSN-ISN (net assets approach balance sheet, income statement by nature)
  • BSU-ISF (liquidity balance sheet, income statement by function)
  • BSU-ISN (liquidity balance sheet, income statement by nature)
There is a lot of other testing that I have done related to XBRL-based financial reporting.  While I believe that where we are today is comparable to the Wright Brothers first airplane, the Wright Flyer; ultimately, knowledge graphs, artificial intelligence, blockchain and other such tools will evolve to become more similar to the revolutionary SR-71 Blackbird.


There is no doubt left in my mind.  The transformation is only a matter of time.  The transformation has already arrived, but the roll out is slow.  But the roll out has begun.

It will not be information technology professionals driving this transition, it will be skilled and experienced professional accountants.  Sure, IT professionals will help. But I think there is more of a need for people that understand informatics, cybernetics, and Lean Six Sigma.

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