College of DuPage Leads Move to Electronic Financial Reporting for Illinois Community Colleges

New data repository will provide timely, accessible financial information in partnership with early adopter, Oakton Community College

NEW YORK--()--College of DuPage and XBRL US, a nonprofit standards organization, jointly stated today that College of DuPage, located in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, is the first public community college to publish their financial statements in standardized XBRL format on their website, using the XBRL US CAFR Taxonomy. View the College of DuPage financials: https://www.cod.edu/about/administration/planning_and_reporting_documents/xbrl-financial-statements.aspx

College of DuPage also announced plans to develop a data repository to house financials from other Illinois-based community colleges. The repository will be available on the College’s website. Early adopters include Oakton Community College in Des Plaines, Illinois, which has agreed to also post their financials in machine-readable, standardized format. Their financials will be the first to be hosted on the new College of DuPage repository.

“As educators, we believe that knowledge is transformative. Financials prepared in structured, machine-readable format give citizens, investors, and other government agencies the power to make decisions based on more timely, accessible data,” said Brian Caputo, Ph.D., C.P.A., President, College of DuPage. “We encourage other community colleges in Illinois to join us in this move to more open and transparent financial data.”

The financials were prepared using the XBRL US CAFR Taxonomy, with XBRL preparation tools contributed by Iris Business Services LLC. The CAFR Taxonomy was created by the XBRL US Standard Government Reporting Working Group, and was developed as a demonstration to illustrate how government reporting can be improved through data standards, and contains XBRL concepts that can be used to prepare seven financial statements, two footnotes, and certain schedules in the Single Audit Report. Review the draft taxonomy: https://xbrl.us/xbrl-taxonomy/2020-cafr/

Approximately 30,000 state and local governments in the United States produce audited financial reports annually. Because this data is not standardized or machine-readable, the ability to aggregate data and compare the financial performance of governmental entities is limited. Recently, there has been local government action towards the use of data standards for municipal reporting. The state of Florida adopted XBRL for local government reporting in March 2018, with the passage of House Bill 1073. The state of Illinois introduced House Resolution 0703 on February 4, 2020, to encourage the use of XBRL for financial reporting by local governments within the state.

Members of the XBRL US State and Local Working Group include DataTracks, Gray CPA Consulting, Intrinio, IRIS Business Services LLC, Middle Tennessee State University, Northern Illinois University, Novaworks LLC, Reason Foundation, Thales Consulting (CAFROnline), Truth In Accounting, the University of South Florida, and Workiva, Inc. Observers to the Working Group include NASACT (the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers) and the U.S. Census Bureau, among other organizations.

About the College of DuPage

College of DuPage is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Serving approximately 21,000 students each term, College of DuPage is the largest public community college in the state of Illinois. The College grants seven associate degrees and offers more than 170 career and technical certificates in over 50 areas of study.

About XBRL US

XBRL US is the non-profit consortium for XBRL business reporting standards in the US and represents the business information supply chain. Its mission is to support the implementation of business reporting standards through the development of taxonomies for use by US public and private sectors, with a goal of interoperability between sectors, and promoting XBRL adoption through marketplace collaboration. XBRL US has built standards for government agencies including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Department of Energy, as well as industry sponsored standards for surety insurance, municipal government reporting, and corporate actions. http://xbrl.us

Links:
College of DuPage financials in machine-readable format: https://www.cod.edu/about/administration/planning_and_reporting_documents/xbrl-financial-statements.aspx
XBRL US CAFR Taxonomy: https://xbrl.us/xbrl-taxonomy/2020-cafr/
XBRL US web site: http://xbrl.us
College of DuPage web site: https://www.cod.edu/

Contacts

Wendy Parks, parksw@cod.edu, 312.399.7829

Michelle Savage, michelle.savage@xbrl.us, 917 747 1714

Contacts

Wendy Parks, parksw@cod.edu, 312.399.7829

Michelle Savage, michelle.savage@xbrl.us, 917 747 1714