This study examines the effect of mandatory XBRL disclosure across various aspects of the financial information environment. Our findings show an increase in information efficiency, a decrease in event return volatility, and a reduction of change in stock returns volatility for 428 firms (1,536 10-K and 10-Q filings) post-XBRL disclosure. In addition, this study shows that XBRL mitigates information risk in the market, especially when there is increased uncertainty in the information environment. Our results are robust to various alternative specifications and research modifications, such as a matched-pair control (326 XBRL versus 326 non-XBRL firms), current stock market condition, potential earnings releases, and corporate governance. This study contributes to the literature by systematically documenting evidence of how mandatory XBRL disclosure decreases information risk and information asymmetry in both general and uncertain information environments. Our evidence could potentially assist the SEC in their effort to expeditiously assess the benefits of XBRL. Data Availability: The list of firms used in the study is available from Professor Lim upon request. All other data are available from sources identified in the body of the paper.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently mandated that publicly traded companies furnish their financial statements in XBRL format. However, researchers and practitioners question whether companies are adequately prepared to implement XBRL, and whether software tools and guidance exist to lead preparers through the process of creating XBRL-related documents. This paper describes how early mandate adopters implemented XBRL reporting. Four themes emerged from our analysis: management support and involvement, implementation approach, organizational readiness or expertise, and control over the XBRL reporting process. Our study contributes to a more complete understanding of how companies implement XBRL by providing a basis for accounting researchers to identify current implementation issues and future research opportunities. Furthermore, we provide educators with a characterization of how companies implement XBRL, thereby facilitating their classroom coverage of this important topic. Data Availability:  Data used in this study are available from the authors upon request.

XBRL ͑eXtensible Business Reporting Language͒ was developed to provide users with an efficient and effective means of preparing and exchanging business reporting, and especially financial information over the Internet. After years of development, XBRL is now in the implementation stage, with many companies, governments, regulators, and stock exchanges around the world implementing or planning to adopt XBRL for electronic filing of financial reports and other business documents and filings. In this paper, we examine the XBRL-Related Documents furnished to the SEC's XBRL Voluntary Filing Program ͑VFP͒ on EDGAR from its inception to December 31, 2007, and report findings from our observations and validation tests. We identify persistent and increasing quality control and assurance issues pertaining to the XBRL-Related Documents furnished under the VFP and discuss potential countermeasures needed to ensure that XBRL-Related Documents are reliable and gain user confidence and acceptance.

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The eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) was developed to provide financial information users with a standardized method to prepare, publish, and exchange business information in digital format. XBRL is being used around the world for financial reporting and government e-filings. Although there has been growing awareness about assurance issues related to the use of XBRL, current audit practices and standards fall short of providing the needed guidance for the provision of assurance on XBRL-Related Documents. In this paper, we report on a mock assurance engagement that we conducted on the XBRL-Related Documents of United Technologies Corporation's 10-Q for the third quarter of 2005 and repeated on its 10-Q for the third quarter of 2008 to identify the issues that companies and auditors might encounter if they are requested to provide assurance on XBRL-Related Documents. We describe the assurance framework applied in the mock assurance engagement, present the findings from the examination process, and discuss future research opportunities associated with XBRL documents assurance.