The role of XBRL in Europe

Digital financial statements have been designed under two main hypotheses: The first one considers that human beings are their target audience and the second one assumes that users belong to a specific accounting jurisdiction or capital market. Obviously, these hypotheses are no longer accepted. The former because it is necessary to make machines understand the accounting language to facilitate the automatic exchange of information between softbots and/or software applications. The latter because in order to facilitate securities markets globalization it is necessary to adopt a unique set of international accounting standards. These two needs have to be satisfied. The response to the first one is XBRL, the Extensible Business Reporting Language. The European solution to the second one, is going to be the adoption of the IASB’s International Accounting Standards. In this paper, the role of XBRL in the European solution is analyzed. The main conclusions are that the adoption of IAS and the use of XBRL will facilitate the communication of information in a homogeneous way, that they will allow the interchange of data between software applications and also the automatic analysis of financial information. In summary, they are going to play a key role for the development of the global European Stock Market.Los estados financieros digitales han sido diseñados bajo dos hipótesis principales. La primera considera que los seres humanos son su público objetivo, y la segunda asume que los usuarios pertenecen a una jurisdicción o un mercado de capitales. Obviamente, estas hipótesis no siguen siendo aceptadas. Es necesario hacer que las máquinas comprendan el idioma de la contabilidad para facilitar el intercambio automático de información entre softbots y/o aplicaciones de software, esto último porque para facilitar la globalización de los mercados de valores es necesario adoptar un conjunto unificado de normas internacionales de contabilidad. Hay que satisfacer estas dos necesidades. La respuesta a la primera es XBRL, el Lenguaje Extensible de Informes Comerciales. La solución europea para la segunda va a ser la adopción de los Estándares de Contabilidad Internacionales de IASB. En este artículo, se analiza el papel de XBRL en la solución europea. Las principales conclusiones son que la adopción del IAS y el uso del XBRL facilitarán la comunicación de la información de manera homogénea, que permitirá el intercambio de datos entre aplicaciones de software y también el análisis automático de información financiera. En resumen, van a jugar un papel fundamental en el desarrollo del Mercado de Bienes Europeo

A survey on voluntary disclosure on the internet : empirical evidence from 300 European union companies

Nowadays, the Internet is a powerful means for companies to voluntarily disclose all kind of financial information. A wide academic literature exists on the field. Findings reveal that the financial information disclosed is wider than that normally required by accounting regulations. Furthermore, the disclosure on the Internet of compulsory information can be considered as a voluntary reporting practice in itself. In this paper, the information currently provided on the Internet by leading companies in different European countries is analyzed in order to make a comparative analysis. To achieve this goal, data from the biggest (market value) 20 companies in each European Union country have been collected. Then, statistical tests have been performed to determine the relationships between what we have called companies’ transparency (dependent variable) and their sector, country of origin and size (independent variables). The results suggest that there is a statistically significant relationship between these three variables and the extent of voluntary disclosure (transparency) on the Internet.Hoy en día, el internet es una herramienta poderosa para las compañías para compartir de manera voluntaria todo tipo de información financiera. Existe un amplio estudio académico en la materia. Los hallazgos revelan que esta información de comparte de manera más abierta de lo que normalmente se requiere en las regulaciones contables. De hecho, esta manera de compartir en internet esta información se puede considerar como voluntaria en sí misma. En este artículo, la información actualmente proporcionada en internet por las grandes compañías en diferentes países europeos se analiza para realizar un análisis comparativo. Para conseguir este objetivo, se ha recolectado información de las veinte mayores empresas en cada país de la Unión Europea. Se han realizado tests estadísticos para determinar las relaciones entre lo que hemos llamado transparencia de las compañías (variable dependiente) y su sector, país de origen y tamaño (variables independientes). Los resultados sugieren que hay una relación estadísticamente de peso entre estas tres variables y la extensión de transparencia voluntaria en Internet

Environmental Disclosure as a Tool for Public Sector Legitimacy: A Twitter Intelligence Approach

The purpose of this study is to measure the extent of Twitter environmental reporting by Andalusian municipalities (Spain) and identify the determinant factors of such a disclosure. Thus, factors such as population, geolocation, political signs, and sustainable commitments were analyzed under the legitimacy theory approach. The sample consisted of the official Twitter accounts of the 153 biggest local governments in Andalusia. The classification of the environmental tweets was based on a dictionary based on the GRI reporting standards for environmental disclosure, and a Twitter environmental disclosure index (TEDI) was developed. The results show that most of the local governments in Andalusia (77.78%) have an official Twitter account with different levels of audience, penetration, and activity. On the other hand, it was found that environmental disclosure is very low. However, municipalities with more surplus budget and municipalities with a greater number of sustainable commitments networks tend to report more on environmental issues through Twitter

Analysis of the Factors Affecting the Adoption and Use of Continuous Audit Tools and Techniques: Comparison between the public and private sector

The aim of this study is to identify the factors that significantly affect current and potential users of the continuous audit tools and techniques. Apart from this, users are faced with an emerging technology that is in the initial phases of implementation. Subjects of this study are auditors of the Big-4 and of the Chamber of Accounts of Spain. The questionnaire is based on the Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) and the Structural Model based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The comparative study between the private and public sectors allows us to note that the peculiarities and differences between private and public bodies bear an influence when it comes to accepting and using a given innovation in the work routine

Analysis of the timeliness of financial statements submitted by companies of the Spanish continuous market

This study examines the timeliness of the financial information of the companies that form part of the Spanish continuous market and the factors that influence this. The sample comprises 105 companies that formed part of the Spanish continuous market at the end of 2004, and the period of study runs from the first half-year of 2002 to the second halfyear of 2008, considering only the half-yearly and annual information. The results obtained with the panel data model demonstrate that the company size and the pressure exerted on particular sectors, have a direct effect on the timeliness of the financial information, and a smaller number of days for the information submission is observed. However, the variable audit report seems to be the main cause of delay

A Delphi investigation to explain the voluntary adoption of XBRL

The objective of this paper is to identify the factors that could have led North-American companies to voluntarily submit their information in XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) under the XBRL Voluntary Financial Reporting Program (2005-2008). The motivation that led us to carry out this analysis was the fact that, despite the many benefits attributed to XBRL, only 137 companies (out of over 10.000 filers) decided to join the voluntary program issued by the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission). At this point, we wondered if the SEC should have promoted other benefits to encourage companies to use XBRL. To reach our goal, we conducted a Delphi study. Through this study, we asked a panel of XBRL experts their opinion about the reasons that could have led companies to voluntarily disclose their business information in XBRL. Our results show that, according to experts, factors such as to gain a deeper knowledege of XBRL and to acquire a company image as a pioneer in technology played an essential role in the process of voluntary adoption of the standard.El objetivo de este estudio es identificar los factores, que pueden haber llevado a las empresas Norteamericanas a presentar de forma voluntaria su información en la XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language), bajo el programa voluntario de informes financieros XBRL. Esta motivación que nos conduce a llevar a cabo este análisis fue el hecho de que, a pesar de los muchos beneficios atribuidos al XBRL, solo 137 empresas (de más de 10.000 auxiliares de archivo) decidieron unirse a este programa publicado por la SEC (Comisión de Valores y Bolsa). En este punto, nos preguntamos si la SEC debería haber promovido otros beneficios para animar a las compañías a utilizar el XBRL. Para conseguir nuestra meta, hemos llevado a cabo un estudio Delphi. A través de este mismo, hemos preguntado a un comité de expertos del XBRL su opinión sobre las causas que podrían haber guiado a las firmas a divulgar su información empresarial en el XBRL. Nuestros resultados muestran que, según los expertos, los factores como ganar un mayor conocimiento del XBRL, y adquirir una imagen empresarial como pionera en tecnología ha jugado un papel esencial en el proceso de la adopción voluntaria del estándar

Environmental Disclosure as a Tool for Public Sector Legitimacy: A Twitter Intelligence Approach

The purpose of this study is to measure the extent of Twitter environmental reporting by Andalusian municipalities (Spain) and identify the determinant factors of such a disclosure. Thus, factors such as population, geolocation, political signs, and sustainable commitments were analyzed under the legitimacy theory approach. The sample consisted of the official Twitter accounts of the 153 biggest local governments in Andalusia. The classification of the environmental tweets was based on a dictionary based on the GRI reporting standards for environmental disclosure, and a Twitter environmental disclosure index (TEDI) was developed. The results show that most of the local governments in Andalusia (77.78%) have an official Twitter account with different levels of audience, penetration, and activity. On the other hand, it was found that environmental disclosure is very low. However, municipalities with more surplus budget and municipalities with a greater number of sustainable commitments networks tend to report more on environmental issues through Twitte

Citizen reactions to municipalities’ Instagram communication

In this paper, we explore how local governments are using Instagram as a communication tool to engage with their citizens, using data from the municipalities of Andalusia (Spain). We seek to identify the determinants of local government use of Instagram, the determinants of activity in this channel and the determinants of citizen reactions in order to understand the influence of media types (picture, video or album) used in municipality posts, and to understand content type (what the post is about). Instaloader, an open source intelligence (OSINT) tool for Instagram, was applied. It made it possible to automatically extract all posts of the analysed municipalities (14,742 posts). These were later automatically analysed using R, an open source software. It was determined that of the 29 Andalusian local governments with the highest populations, only those that maintain an account on Instagram, totalling 17 municipalities (58.62%), would be part of the final analysis. Our findings demonstrate that when local governments have a high level of debt, they do not maintain and actively use Instagram accounts. We also found that quality of posts’ content is more important than quantity of followers, since there is no significant relationship between citizen reactions and the number of inhabitants of a municipality or the number of followers (audience), while there is a significant negative relationship between the number of posts (activity) and reactions. Our results also highlight that the level of reactions can be stimulated by certain media and content types.Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Huelva / CBUAThe authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, or publication of this article: This work was supported as beneficiaries of the “Programa Operativo FEDER Andalucía 2014-2020”, by the Regional Government of Andalusia (Spain), General Secretary for Universities, Research and Technology [Research Projects UHU-1253498]

La Mejora del Sistema de lnformación Contable Mediante la Integración de las Tecnologías Emergentes: The Improvement of Accounting lnformation Systems through the Integration of Emerging Technologies

The accounting information system (hereafter AIS) can be considered as the basic support to satisfy demands for information during the decision making process. Inadequacies in the information supplied to decision makers implies, necessarily, the need to modify the AIS so that it can continue to be the main support in the decision making process. This paper, on the one hand, describes the characteristics that these systems should have in each 01 their operational phases in order to increase the quantity and quality of information. On the other hand, it outlines the possibilities of achieving such demands by integrating artificial intelligence tools in traditional AIS’s.El sistema de información contable (en adelante, SIC) se configura como el soporte básico para la satisfacción de las necesidades informativas en el proceso de toma de decisiones. La falta de adecuación de la información suministrada a las demandas de sus distintos usuarios conlleva, necesariamente, la modificación del SIC, pues sólo así seguirá siendo el principal pilar en el proceso decisional. En este trabajo, por un lado, se describen las características que deberían reunir estos sistemas en cada una de las fases que componen su esquema de funcionamiento a fin de aumentar la cantidad y calidad de la información y, por otro, se presentan las posibilidades que ofrece la integración en los SIC tradicionales de las distintas herramientas que la Inteligencia Artificial pone a nuestra disposición para lograr tales exigencias

Tone and content analysis in the president’s letters to shareholders: Spanish evidence

This article explores the potential factors that might be influencing the length and tone of the discourse of the IBEX35 presidents’ letters to shareholders. It also provides an analysis of their content. The methodological framework of the research relies on the impression management theory, that is, how companies want to present themselves, in a way that contributes to their goals. The research uses an automatic process of textual analysis, through R and Voyant Tools. For tone and length analysis, we used a total of 187 letters corresponding to the years 2013–2018, and for content analysis, a larger sample of 321 letters corresponding to the years 2008–2018. According to the research findings, there was a greater positive tone when the profits after taxes decreased and when the directors’ remuneration increased with respect to the previous year. Regarding content, the research shows that there are differences between non-financial and financial companies. In conclusion, our findings, which show that in certain situations the tone of discourse changes, are supported by and contribute to impression management theory. The study may be of interest to shareholders to better understand the content of the chairpersons’letters