IMA Urges Senate to Ratify DATA Act, Recommends XBRL as Data Standard for US Government

MONTVALE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IMA^®, the world’s leading and largest association focused exclusively on advancing the global management accounting profession, announced today its support of H.R. 2146, “The Digital Accountability and Transparency Act” (DATA Act), and urged the full U.S. Senate to proceed on passage of its companion bill (S. 1222).

“U.S. lawmakers have an opportunity to save taxpayer money, improve information transparency, eliminate process inefficiencies, and better manage risk through the use of XBRL and passage of the DATA Act.”

The DATA Act recommends that eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) be considered as the non-proprietary data standard for the U.S. government, and IMA supports the use of the technology, which will provide accountability and transparency to federal government spending. XBRL – or interactive data – is a global, freely available, standardized data format for exchanging financial and business information in a computer-readable format.

“XBRL enables more transparent, streamlined exchange and analysis of data critical for government oversight," said Brad J. Monterio, IMA board member, chair of IMA’s XBRL Committee, and managing director at Colcomgroup, Inc. “U.S. lawmakers have an opportunity to save taxpayer money, improve information transparency, eliminate process inefficiencies, and better manage risk through the use of XBRL and passage of the DATA Act.”

The DATA Act passed the U.S. House unanimously on April 25, 2012 and has been referred to the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, where it awaits approval before going to the full Senate for a vote.

IMA is an original co-founder of the XBRL standard, and seeks to educate its members and the general public on its applicability to the management accounting profession given its use in internal reporting processes, decision making and analysis.

IMA has previously advocated for XBRL to be used in developing an international integrated reporting framework. For more information, see IMA’s comment letter to the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC): http://www.imanet.org/about_ima/advocacy_activity/advocacy_details/11-12-19/Integrated_Reporting_Discussion_Paper.aspx.

To learn more about XBRL, follow this link to download “XBRL and ERM: Increasing Organizational Effectiveness,” which originally appeared in Strategic Finance: http://www.imanet.org/mgi/eXtensible_Business_Reporting_Language_PR.aspx.

About IMA^® (Institute of Management Accountants)

IMA^®, the association of accountants and financial professionals in business, is one of the largest and most respected associations focused exclusively on advancing the management accounting profession. Globally, IMA supports the profession through research, the CMA^® (Certified Management Accountant) program, continuing education, networking, and advocacy of the highest ethical business practices. IMA has a global network of more than 60,000 members in 120 countries and 200 local chapter communities. IMA provides localized services through its offices in Montvale, N.J., USA; Zurich, Switzerland; Dubai, UAE; and Beijing, China. For more information about IMA, please visit www.imanet.org.