The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants is offering a special two-day seminar, July 22-23, for financial professionals on understanding and applying the new eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) required for public companies by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"This is a significant emerging issue for preparers," said Arleen Thomas, AICPA senior vice president member competency and development.

The SEC proposed on May 30 to require all U.S. publicly-held companies to provide their financial statements, footnotes and schedules using interactive data starting with reporting periods ending on or after Dec. 15, 2008. The rule is phased-in over three years.

"The SEC proposed rule would affect the largest 500 companies by the end of the year," Thomas said.
The objective of this seminar, to be held in the AICPA boardroom in New York, is to provide a hands-on, interactive approach to understanding the new information standard that is about to impact U.S. publicly-held companies. Participants will have direct access to subject matter experts on tagging financial statements in XBRL and will walk away with a clear understanding of the following:

How to tag financial statements in XBRL

The ability to navigate the US GAAP Taxonomies

An awareness of XBRL tools and their function

Hands-on experience with tagging and viewing XBRL documents utilizing the Rivet Software tools (with on-site representatives).

The July 22-23 workshop is designed to benefit financial executives and staff including chief financial officers, controllers, assistant controllers, accounting managers and auditors who assist clients who work with and prepare financial statements for both publicly-held and privately-held companies. The workshop will be taught by expert instructors:

Mary E. Phillips teaches accounting at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, TN, and has 17 years experience teaching at the university level. Prior to teaching accounting, she worked in public accounting and in industry. She has a Ph.D. in Business Administration (accounting concentration) from the University of Kentucky, and an MBA from Middle Tennessee State University.

Christy Rohrs, CPA, is director of professional services for Rivet Software in Denver, CO. Rohrs leads educational and professional services for Rivet’s customers participating in the SEC Voluntary Filing Program, and oversees the creation of XBRL financial statements for submission to the SEC. She manages the Rivet Software contract with the SEC for developing and implementing the XBRL Interactive Viewer for corporate finance and the Mutual Fund Viewer on the SEC Web site.

Clinton E. White, Jr. (Skip) has a DBA from Indiana University (1981), and an MBA from the University of Louisville (1975). White is the area head of MIS in the Department of Accounting & MIS at the University of Delaware, and the author of The Accountant’s Guide to XBRL and The Guide & Workbook for Understanding XBRL.

Greg Zegarowski, is president of Financial Leadership Corporation, Lafayette, CA. Prior to founding Financial Leadership, Zegarowski practiced as a CPA with Deloitte & Touche and was an audit partner with a regional CPA firm. He has served as the CFO of an international medical equipment company and as a corporate finance and compliance consultant to numerous companies.

Registration information is available online.