An analysis of extensible business reporting language errors before and after Securities and Exchange Commission safe harbor expiration

In 2009 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) began requiring public companies to submit Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) exhibits with their traditional US GAAP financial statement filings. The purpose of XBRL is to convert static text-based information into machine-readable data that can be searched and analyzed across companies, industries and reporting periods. This study addressed the problem of XBRL errors by comparing the quantity of errors before and after the expiration of the SEC's twenty-four month limited liability provision of the 2009 mandate. The study found that the quantity of errors is very large and did not decline after the expiration of the limited liability provision.