Standards must be developed to govern this form of information dissemination. The Internet removes international boundaries of information. As commerce continues to expand and business and financial information is demanded on a global basis, accounting standards must be harmonized across national boundaries. Many companies simply mirror their paper-based financial reporting practices. Real-time disclosure of selected financial information on the Internet is clearly foreseeable.
Technology is the key to companies reporting more timely information.
Cisco also provided live Internet broadcasts of its Worldwide Analyst Conference. Such timely information would not be possible without new technologies. Through XBRL, users can extract and download business and financial data for further analysis. Third party vendors such as XBRL Solutions, Inc. are developing tools to assist in this data retrieval and analysis. The audit model will need to evolve to a continuous audit model, where assurance is given on the system, rather than the data.