While XBRL has rightly been criticized for lack of standardization, poor enforcement of guidelines and poor data quality, there are hopeful signs. For example, the FASB's US GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy, against which companies are required to tag their own taxonomy, contains a reference linkbase that serves to bridge XBRL with current accounting standards. It's a useful tool for both filers and auditors of XBRL financial data, particulary if exposed in user-friendly application software. AsReported.com has integrated these references into its XBRL framework and is implementing a web version. Here's a brief demo of this functionality...
XBRL-FASB Links Demo
