The adoption of XBRL in South Africa: an empirical study

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) is an important new information and communication technology for the electronic communication of business and financial data. International research shows unacceptably low levels of awareness and adoption of XBRL. This paper aims to investigate the level of awareness of XBRL in South Africa among chartered accountants. Furthermore, it aims to consider the factors influencing adoption of XBRL and the impact of the economic circumstances on the decision to adopt XBRL. Design/methodology/approach -The research was conducted with data collected through a structured, self-administered web-based survey sent to 11,458 chartered accountants. Chartered accountants will be primarily responsible for the implementation of XBRL at organisations. Findings -The findings are largely in line with international studies, indicating a low level of awareness and slow adoption of the new technology. The major reasons cited for not adopting XBRL are that it is not yet mandatory in South Africa to do so and in the view of the respondents there is not any benefit in adopting XBRL. The results indicated that the economic circumstances did not have any effect on the decision to implement XBRL, be it either to implement or not to implement XBRL. Originality/value -It is concluded that the business case for XBRL, internationally and in South Africa, should be made stronger for awareness and adoption rates to improve. The adoption of XBRL is, by implication, important and relevant to everyone with an interest in information management.

Integrated Reporting in an Internet and Social Media Communication Environment: Conceptual Insights

“…1 For more critical analysis of XBRL and the potential issues associated with its use, see Cordery et al (2011), Debreceny et al (2011), Steenkamp and Nel (2012) and Vasarhelyi et al (2012). 2 Well-publicised cases of organisations being subjected to scrutiny are BP over its involvement in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010 and Nestlé sourcing ingredients for its products from a company accused of felling rainforests in Indonesia.…”

Digitalization of financial reporting in local governments of three Montenegrin regions – Current situation and perspectives

“…A total of 303 respondents answered the questionnaire, which makes a total response rate of 33%. The size of the sample was considered sufficient for carrying out the research (Bonson et al, 2009;Gray et al, 2009;Felden, 2011;Steenkamp et al, 2012). Data entry was done automatically via Google Forms, while the processing of data was done in IBM SPSS Software.…”

Standard Business Reporting (SBR) Adoption in Australia, Critically Acclaimed, Box Office Flop: Constructivist and Ecological Rationalities in Information Systems (IS) Adoption

“…Recent research has found that the anticipated benefits of XBRL focus predominantly on efficiency within the realm of the data and report-producers and on effectiveness within the realm of the data and report-consumers (Robb, et al 2016). Financial statements using XBRL, arguably, assist in increasing information transparency and ease of acquisition for financial analysis tasks (Muthusamy et al 2017;Janvrin, Pinsker, & Mascha, 2013;Steenkamp & Nel, 2012). Transparency of financial information is also claimed to be enhanced with the use of XBRL.…”