Robert Kugel's Analyst Perspectives

This is annual report season, the time of year that a majority of European and North American corporations issue glossy paper documents aimed at investors, customers, suppliers, existing and prospective employees as well as the public at large. (Some countries have different conventions; in Japan, for instance, most companies are on a March fiscal year.) In reviewing some of the annual reports that are available on the Web, I was struck by the absence of advanced reporting technology used on investor web pages and in online annual reports of vendors of advanced reporting technology. (One notable exception is Microsoft, which uses Silverlight on its investor web pages.) Adobe Acrobat (introduced 20 years ago) is the presentation method of choice for the annual report. It would be great if publicly traded vendors that sell tools that automate the process of assembling investor documents (such as Exact Software, IBM, Infor, SAP and Trintech) would demonstrate their value beyond simple compliance. These companies’ tools support and automate the processes that are part of what some call “the last mile of finance,” referring to their use in the final steps of a stream of activities that starts with closing the books and performing statutory financial consolidations and ends with publishing and filing financial documents to satisfy regulatory or contractual obligations. (I prefer to use the term “close-to-disclose cycle” because it’s a more accurate description.) These vendors should go the extra mile and redesign their investor sites to show how XBRL-tagged financial documents can be used to communicate more effectively with shareholders.

Most people engaged in investor relations and corporate reporting don’t see the value in the U.S. Securities and Exchange (SEC) mandate to use eXtensible Business Reporting (XBRL) tags for their financial statements. The SEC’s mandate has done a great job of collecting a trove of accessible data, but few individual investors and only a minority of investment practitioners are using it because of a lack of available tools for using the data, among other reasons.

I understand why companies don’t use XBRL technology on their websites: those responsible for external reporting view tagging as a regulatory requirement that’s a nuisance, not a benefit. Those responsible for public and investor relations likely haven’t considered how they can exploit XBRL’s potential. The vendors of the tagging tools don’t care because the SEC’s mandate and other regulatory rules are their demand generators. If they needed to sell the software on its ability to improve corporate and investor communications, they probably would already be showing off such capabilities.

There are few technology barriers to implementing more interactive investor sites that enable users to work with data in a more effective manner. Instead of treating the electronic filing requirements as a compliance issue with little or no business value, public companies should be utilizing the effort they’ve already put into their statutory filings to offer financial and corporate communications with more pizzazz. Companies, especially technology vendors, can transform their mandated interactive financial disclosures into differentiated corporate communications that explain their strategy, performance, opportunities, financial position and stewardship. This amounts to the electronic equivalent of the venerable annual report printed on heavy, glossy paper, and would offer interactive data, dynamic charting and other presentation forms to promote more effective communications and better insight.

An easy way for companies to add sizzle to substance on their investor pages is to use XBRL-tagged data to create an experience that’s only available on the Internet. Businesses that buy tagging tools and software that automates and supports the close-to-disclose cycle would probably feel better about their investments if they could see some practical payoff. Those selling the software are in a great position to show the way and benefit from being the first to show off its possibilities.

Regards,

Robert Kugel – SVP Research