Louis Matherne Director – Information Technology AICPA

1. X“FR”MLeXtensible Financial Reporting Markup Language An Executive Overview Presented by Mike Willis, XFRML Committee Chair PricewaterhouseCoopers Zachary Coffin, Liaison Chair KPMG Louis Matherne Director – Information Technology AICPA FEI Committee on Corporate Reporting March 2, 2000, Scottsdale AZ

2. XFRML - What It’s Not • NOT setting accounting standards • NOTa cookie-cutter template • NOT a detailed universal chart of accounts • NOT a GAAP translator • NOT a proprietary technology • NOT a Transaction Protocol

3. XFRML and the Emergence of ‘e-Standards’ • E-Standards are fundamental • HTML is the standard that enabled the web’s first ‘Big Step’ • XML is the web’s next ‘Big Step’ • Over 200 XML-Based Specifications and Protocols exist, including— • RosettaNet – computer company supply chain and trading webs • OBI - Open Buying on the Internet - retail e-commerce • FpML - Financial Products (Derivatives, Swaps, FX) • ACORD XML - Insurance industry information exchange standards derived from EDI. • UN/CEFAC = EBXML • XFRML is uniquely focused on financial reporting

4. What is XFRML? • A freely available electronic tagging language for financial reporting built with XML

5. What Is XML: Tags are the key • <type>gross-revenue</type> <label>Turnover</label> <amount period=“2000”>10000</amount> <amount period=“1999”>5000</amount></line-item>

6. Prototype - Viewer

8. Benefits • 1. Reduce cost of analyzing and reporting financial information • 2. Increase the speed and efficiency of business decisions • 3. Enhance the distribution and usability of existing financial statement information • CFOs still control disclosure, but now can use XFRML to communicate with investors more efficiently • No change to accounting standards • Easy to do • Makes investors happy

9. Example: Cost Reduction • International Subsidiaries: • Large multi-national corporation uses XFRML to quickly analyze and publish the financial statements of numerous subsidiaries— • in different countries • with different languages • using different GAAP • on different computer systems

10. Example: Efficient Decisions • Major mutual fund company feeds XFRML-ized information to customers to differentiate their funds as more objective and reliable investments • An investor uses XFRML to compare the financials for a range of companies— • Belonging to different revenue levels • Located within an industry sector • Along multiple analytical criteria

11. Example: Credit • Loan Approval: • Small Business provides Bank with their financial information in XFRML and receives loan approval in 1 minute instead of 2 days • Credit Approval: • Company approves customer credit request with automated assessment processes facilitated by XFRML • Line of Credit: • Company provides capital markets with financial information in XFRML and receives expedited line of credit

12. Benefits to the Investor • XFRML helps investors by— • Information faster, better, cheaper • Enabling more powerful benchmarking & analysis tools • Virtual documents for comparative purposes • Linkage to related topics • Technology stays “behind the curtain”

13. International Accounting Standards Committee XFRML

14. FEI - Round Table Considerations • FEI members as representatives on XFRML Steering Committee • Support adoption of XFRML. • Leadership by FEI membership in preparing their F/S in XFRML • Consider global involvement • Need diverse industry representation • Need involvement in developing future of XFRML

15. X“FR”MLeXtensible Financial Reporting Markup Language An Executive Overview Presented by Mike Willis, XFRML Committee Chair PricewaterhouseCoopers Zachary Coffin, Liaison Chair KPMG Louis Matherne Director – Information Technology AICPA FEI Committee on Corporate Reporting March 2, 2000, Scottsdale AZ

16. Appendix • What is XML? • Additional information

17. What Is XML? • “XML is a: - platform-independent, - self-describing, - expandable, - standard data exchange format • that can be used either independently or • embedded and used within other solutions.”

18. What Is XML: Platform Independent • Windows • Unix • Macintosh • Mainframe

19. What Is XML: Self-Describing • Example: • <DATE>July 26, 1998</DATE> • Describes the information, not the presentation. Format neutral.

20. What Is XML: Expandable • Extensible • Whereas HTML is fixed • <H1>, <B>, <PRE> • XML lets you roll your own • <sugary-substance> • <Shakespearean-character> • <cash-equivalent>

21. What Is XML: Standard • W3C standards-based text format for interchange of data as of February 1998. • Example: • <Person> <Name>Rich Fox</Name> <Title>Program Manager</Title> <Age>34</Age></Person>

22. balance sheet total-assets asset (current) amount (2000) $91,000,000 What Is XML: Tags give context • Greater context to the information • Tree structure is natural in XML <balance-sheet> <total-assets> <asset-type="current"> <amount-period=“2000"> <amount> $91,000,000 </amount> </amount-period> </asset-type> </total-assets> </balance-sheet>

23. Useful References and Additional Information • Useful References • CFO Magazines article, “How the Web was Won” about Online IR • http://www.cfonet.com/html/Articles/CFO/2000/00FEhowt.html • Scientific American article, “XML and the Second-Generation Web” • http://www.sciam.com/1999/0599issue/0599bosak.html • FASB’s Electronic Distribution of Business Reporting Information • http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/fasb • IASC’s Business Reporting on the Internet • http://www.iasc.org.uk/frame/cen3_26.htm • XFRML Website • http://www.xfrml.org • For additional information, please contact • Mike Willis, XFRML Committee Chair (813) 340-0932 or mike.willis@us.pwcglobal.com • Zachary Coffin, Liaison Chair (213) 955-8508 or zcoffin@kpmg.com • Louis Matherne, AICPA (212) 596-6027 or Lmatherne@aicpa.org