In its purest form, accounting is a method of communication, and many refer to it as the language of business. Although the average citizen might view accounting as a convoluted set of complex standards, the recent abuses of data have resulted in legislation and investor demands for timely and relevant information. In addition, global requirements for information relevancy and accuracy are the focal points of numerous efforts by professional organizations, regulatory agencies, and academic research. XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language)--an open, platform-independent, international standard that enables the extraction, manipulation, and exchange of Web-based data across a variety of software applications--holds the greatest promise for building a global standard that can bridge the current financial reporting gaps. The significant involvement at the governmental, corporate, and professional levels suggests a major change in how information is communicated, shared, and analyzed. This opportunity for improving financial transparency can indeed revolutionize corporate reporting.