Chapter 14. Finding the Tools and Services to Make XBRL Work

In This Chapter

  • Exploring XBRL processors

  • Evaluating XBRL software

  • Finding products that support XBRL

  • Searching for assistance

XBRL is brought to life within software (see Chapters 1 and 3). In this chapter, we dig deeper into the area of software and services to help you get the most out of what XBRL offers. We cover both locally installed software, which is how most of what we did in the past was accomplished, and software you use as a service (SaaS), which is a newer model that software creators are using to deliver functionality to their customers. We tell you how to find this software, and we provide information to help you select the software that's right for you.

Having the right tool for the right job can make a complex task simple. Likewise, having the wrong software tool or using a good tool for the wrong purpose can make something that is quite simple much more complex.

Tip

To avoid having to type the long links, go to www.dummies.com/go/xbrl. This takes you to a landing page where you can click the link you need.

The XBRL Software Landscape

We divide the software and services arena into several categories to make it easier to both communicate what software exists and help you understand what you may be looking for (and why) so that you can pinpoint the right solution, given all the alternatives. And, surprisingly, a lot of XBRL software alternatives are out there, which shows how much interest there is in XBRL.

But while ...

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