AICPA and XBRL US Announce Development of XBRL US GAAP Certificate Program

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Institute of CPAs, the world's largest member association representing the accounting profession, and XBRL US, the nonprofit consortium for XBRL, today announced plans to develop a Certificate Program focused on US GAAP reporting in XBRL format.  The Certificate will require holders to complete approximately 30 hours of online coursework ranging from understanding the basics of XBRL and the US GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy, to helping participants master the complexities of detailed footnote tagging.  The program is designed for public company accountants, 3^rd party accountants that work with public companies, and employees of XBRL consultants and service providers.

The content was developed by XBRL US, the AICPA , the FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board), accounting firms and XBRL tool and service providers.  The Certificate will be delivered in an online format by the AICPA, which has been developing high-quality accounting education to the profession for decades.  CPE credit will be available for all modules and the program is scheduled to launch in the first quarter 2013.  Early research conducted among members of the AICPA and XBRL US showed a clear market demand for the online training, particularly among public company preparers.

"XBRL is now a standard part of every public company's reporting process and it's critical that preparers have solid guidelines," said Barry Melancon, CPA, CGMA, president and CEO of the AICPA. "Participants in the XBRL US GAAP Certificate program will receive the best, most consistent knowledge on how to produce XBRL financials."

"The U.S. GAAP Certificate Program is a valuable resource for companies as they create their XBRL data.  The FAF and the FASB were pleased to participate in the development of the program as part of our ongoing efforts to promote high quality financial reporting in the U.S. capital markets," said Terri Polley, President and CEO, Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF).

Over 8,800 companies are now providing XBRL tags for both face financials and detailed data in footnotes.  In their phase-in of the XBRL mandate for public companies, the Securities and Exchange Commission allowed companies a one-year grace period that gave them limited liability on their XBRL formatted financials.  That limited liability has been lifted for all accelerated filers and by mid-year 2013, will be eliminated for all filers. 

"The importance of creating high quality data is even more critical today and there's a been a real lack of guidance in the marketplace for public companies and for the service providers that work with them.  The importance of a program like the XBRL US GAAP Certificate is its ability to create a standard in how the US GAAP taxonomy should be used.  The consistency in approach will help companies create better XBRL financials," said Campbell Pryde, President and CEO, XBRL US, Inc.

The program will include eight fundamentals modules, e.g., Understanding XBRL, Understanding the US GAAP Taxonomy, Creating the Extension Taxonomy and Building the Instance Document; two modules on Statements; and 22 modules on the tagging of individual footnotes such as Debt, Tax, Business Combinations, etc.  To learn more about the program and register to be alerted when the program launches, go to:  www.cpa2biz.com/xbrlcertificate

About the AICPA

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) is the world's largest member association representing the accounting profession, with nearly 386,000 members in 128 countries and a 125-year heritage of serving the public interest.  AICPA members represent many areas of practice, including business and industry, public practice, government, education and consulting.

The AICPA sets ethical standards for the profession and U.S. auditing standards for audits of private companies, nonprofit organizations, federal, state and local governments. It develops and grades the Uniform CPA Examination and offers specialty credentials for CPAs who concentrate on personal financial planning; fraud and forensics; business valuation; and information technology. Through a joint venture with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), it has established the Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) designation to elevate management accounting globally.

The AICPA maintains offices in New York, Washington, DC, Durham, NC, and Ewing, NJ.

Media representatives are invited to visit the AICPA Press Center at aicpa.org/press.

About XBRL US

XBRL US is the non-profit consortium for XBRL business reporting standards in the U.S. and it represents the business information supply chain. Its mission is to support the implementation of XBRL business reporting standards through the development of taxonomies for use by U.S. public and private sectors, with a goal of interoperability between sectors, and by promoting XBRL adoption through marketplace collaboration. XBRL US has developed taxonomies for U.S. GAAP, credit rating and mutual fund reporting under contract with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and has developed a taxonomy for corporate actions.  Learn more at http://xbrl.us

Links:

XBRL US web site:  http://xbrl.us 
AICPA web site:  http://aicpa.org 
XBRL US GAAP Certificate Page:  www.cpa2biz.com/xbrlcertificate 

SOURCE XBRL US