XBRL or Extensible Business Reporting Language is a member of the family of languages based on XML, which is a standard for the electronic exchange of data between businesses and on the internet. The rich and powerful structure of XBRL allows very efficient handling of business data by computer software as well as human reading (example).
XBRL International, the organization that focuses on the progress of XBRL, has 15 established jurisdictions and 6 provisional jurisdictions across the globe. The organization publishes two documents about XBRL - XBRL Specification and XBRL Taxonomies. Each jurisdiction promotes XBRL and organizes or sponsors the creation of taxonomies, notably for the main accounting standards for business reporting in its area.
The latest Recommended Specification was updated on 7 Nov 2005 with a version number of 2.1. With the support of more about 450 major companies, organizations and government agencies, XBRL is steadily getting its place in the global business community.