Learn
The machine-readable standard that makes SEC financial data queryable, and why it matters for investors.
XBRL, short for eXtensible Business Reporting Language, is the machine-readable format the SEC requires public companies to use when they file financial statements. Alongside the human-readable 10-K or 10-Q document, the company submits the same numbers tagged with standardized codes, so a computer can read them as reliably as a person reads the printed table.
The tags come from a shared dictionary called the US-GAAP taxonomy. When a company reports net income, it tags that figure with the concept us-gaap:NetIncomeLoss; revenue is tagged us-gaap:Revenues or a related concept; total assets is us-gaap:Assets. Because every filer uses the same dictionary, the same line item can be pulled and compared across thousands of companies without a human reading each filing.
Signals.AI provides research, data, and opinions for informational purposes only. It does not provide investment, tax, or legal advice and does not make buy, sell, or hold recommendations.