Conformance Suite

The following is a conformance suite for XBRL-based reports that follow the Seattle Method, XBRL International's Open Information Model (OIM), and Object Management Group's Standard Business Report Model (SBRM).  For more information, please see Reconciliation Seattle Method, OIM, SBRM, XBRL.

Note that each example provided on this page has been tested using seven different software applications and results are consistent with expectations: Arelle, UBmatrix XPE 4.0, UBmatrix Taxonomy Designer, Coyote Reporting, Pesseract, Auditchain Pacioli, Auditchain Luca Suite.

The following core values or key ideas drive thinking about model-driven digital financial reporting. The core pattern is an information exchange mechanism that enables interoperability. This is a professional knowledge organization system based on global open industry standards.
  • Clarity: Clear thought and communication processes with an understanding of the difference between objective facts and subjective opinions and beliefs.
  • Shared Understanding: Effective communication between stakeholder and by stakeholders to those creating the system is critically important.  Testing is a tools for verifying agreement and determining if a system is adequate to meet specified goals and objectives. This provides a shared understanding of the system.
  • Theory: A sound approach grounded in proven theory which demonstrates, via testing, the validity of the approach drives work.
  • Framework: Frameworks provide leverage.  A framework provides a best practices based “blueprint” which is repeatable.  A framework can provide a “toolkit” which can be leveraged, rather than building everything from scratch.  A framework enable the ability to provide prebuilt and pre-verified  “modules”.  A framework provides scalability and consistency. A framework provides clarity and repeatability.
  • Discipline: Standard procedures and processes that are grounded in good practices and best practices drive all work.  There is no room for spontaneity or letting people simply do work "their own way".  Accountancy is not "art" or unconscious "wild behavior" or "anarchy".
  • Rigor: Best practice standards-based processes and procedures are followed precisely.  Rigor is not about inflexibility. Rigor is about understanding the reason for the best practices.
  • Modularity: Everything should have the appropriate level of modularity.
  • Scalable: The objective to enable scalability.
  • Open Systems Approach: An open systems approach inspired by the Defense Department's Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA).
  • Feedback: Processes and procedures are not pulled from thin air.  Rather, they are carefully determined using quantitative feedback from measurements and thorough testing to make adjustments to systems, techniques, processes, and procedures. The objective is to create a virtuous cycle. Effective governance helps to provide this feedback loop to create the virtuous cycle.
This is the conformance suite: (work in progress) Core Information Patterns | 

  1. Hello World
  2. Set
  3. Roll Up
  4. Roll Forward
  5. Arithmetic
  6. Member Aggregation
  7. Member Nonaggregation
  8. Variance (a.k.a. Difference)
  9. Adjustment (a.k.a. Restatement)
  10. Textblock
  11. Roll Forward Info
  12. PROOF (combines all the above patterns into one report)
  13. Grid (a.k.a. Array, Matrix, Table, Spreadsheet) NOTE this MAY  or MAY NOT be semantic oriented
  14. Lorem Ipsum (Any information...financial information (i.e. flows through a double entry bookkeeping system) or nonfinancial information)
IMPORTANT NOTE! The Inline XBRL has not been tested.

Additional Accounting and Audit Specific Use Cases/Test Cases Not Currently incorporated into the Conformance Suite (not sure I should include them):

Additional Information:

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