Seattle Method

This blog post summarizes information related to what many people refer to as "triple-entry accounting" (TEA), "triple-entry bookkeeping" (TEB), shared public ledgers, public databases, and such. First, it is important to understand the difference between recordkeeping, bookkeeping, and accounting which is: Recordkeeping : Recordkeeping relates to the mechanical process of preservation of documentary evidence of a particular event. Bookkeeping :  Bookkeeping is a specialized type of recordkeeping which relates to the mechanical process of preserving documentary evidence of particular business events in the form of financial transactions into a bookkeeping system. Accounting : Accounting builds on top of bookkeeping adding additional refinements of financial summarization and a control function added. Accounting is the language used by bookkeeping. Accounting is a communications tool. Accounting is a classification system. The "book" in bookkeeping relates ...

(Note that on this page, the term "framework" means digital financial reporting framework as contrast to the term regulatory framework and standards or financial reporting framework .) * * * A framework is stabilizing scaffolding or essential supporting structure which provides leverage and scalability. A framework is a structured set of guidelines, libraries, conventions, components, best practices, and tools that provides a foundation for building and stabilizing applications or systems. Frameworks are useful because they save time, enforce consistency, and avoid reinventing solutions to common problems. Think of a framework like the foundation of a house. Instead of starting with raw materials every time, you begin with a solid base and predefined structures that make construction faster and more reliable. Frameworks save time because you avoid having to start from scratch when solving common problems.  Frameworks provide consistency and structure by enforcing standard ...

The core idea of XBRL is global open industry standard for information exchange  that is machine-interpretable that is also interpretable by humans (i.e. one version of information, usable by both humans and machines). This is achieved using the notion of the " information block ". The meaning conveyed by that information block is expressed using the XBRL global open industry standard format. Having one version of information that is readable by both a machine and a human means that a common shared cognitive understanding and mutual knowledge provided by the information block is usable by both machine and human. An information block is a holon . An information block is an organism . Epistemic traceability is a trail of thought and reasoning; the ability to track exactly where a piece of information came from and why some system decided that information was true. Epistemic traceability is the audit trail or "chain of reasoning" that shows the journey information has...