Press release:

"Microsoft Corp. continued to demonstrate leadership in financial reporting by announcing that it has become the first technology company to publish its financial statements on the Internet using Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) an XML-based framework for financial reporting. By publishing financial statements in XBRL, Microsoft is providing easier access to the company's financial data and more efficient analysis capabilities to investors, analysts, accountants, regulators and others in the financial supply chain."

If this practice catches up, it should make it easier for services such as EdgarScan to output structured financial statements.

05/10/04 update: Jon Udell's critique of XBRL.

05/19/04 update: Nasdaq.com/xlbr:

"Users of the [Microsoft Office Tool for XBRL] Prototype will be able to connect directly to EDGAR Online from within the tool. With the Prototype you are able download financial statements, in XBRL format, for a sampling of the S&P 500. The free access requires a username (EDGAROnlineXBRLDemo) and a password (demo$user). Free access is provided to the following ticker symbols: AIG, AMGN, BAC, C, CSCO, DELL, GE, HD, HPQ, IBM, INTC, JNJ, JPM, KO, MO, MRK, MSFT, PEP, PFE, PG, SBC, TWX, VZ, WFC, WMT, and XOM."

09/07/04 update: XBRL Gathers Momentum With SEC and EC Attention.