THE XML Files

Abstract

In the 21st century economy, XML is the way you will move information. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY * XML IS A NEW MARKUP LANGUAGE--a relative of the Web's HTML--that codes all information, making it accessible to many users across virtually all programs and platforms. * XML TELLS YOU WHAT the information is, such as a customer name in a purchase order, and how it should be presented, such as in print or in a Web site. * CPAs HAVE TO MOVE and manipulate vast amounts of data. XML can automate much of the rote work by allowing different systems to speak to each other, saving CPAs for more highly valued analytical work. * XML IS NOT THE PROPERTY of any one company; it is an open language available to everyone. Any accounting software vendor can incorporate XML and XML standards. * XML USE INCLUDES the automation and simplification of audit schedules, the elimination of cumbersome and expensive accounts payable systems and the creation of universal, easy-to-implement e-commerce solutions. * THE NEED TODAY IS for standardization of the coding process, so all financial report information, for example, can be easily understood no matter which program or platform you use. Imagine you could another dimension to your tax records, audit work-papers financial statements--anything CPAs work with. Imagine you could give each electronic record, each unit of information in your office, a label, that would explain what the data mean to whoever wanted to use that information--a person or a computer program. would not be just a name but a person identified as a corporate client in Wichita; $322.28 would be labeled as an accounts payable item to Acme Office Supplies. Even if the tags were in plain English your computer system would understand them. Imagine your accounting software--all accounting software--could add tags automatically and use a standard method and standard tags, rather than proprietary methods and tags. No one could own the codes because they would be open--not a product of Microsoft or any other company. And as long as you're dreaming, make believe the software is free. Now stop imagining, because it's here. Extensible markup language (XML) may still be an unfamiliar computer language to many, but it's not science fiction and it's readily understandable by anyone who understands the Web. XML is in use today and is completely changing the way business information moves around the world. XML is about having one universal way to exchange data, rather than hundreds of different ways. XML is both easy to understand and capable of the most sophisticated data-management tasks. Perhaps it's easiest to describe it by looking at the name itself. First, what is a markup language? refers to its tags, or codes, which identify pieces of information (see Markup Languages: A Genealogy, page 73). Think of XML as a super-intelligent version of hypertext markup language--HTML--the language of the Internet. As an experiment, use your browser to reveal the HTML codes on a Web page. A word in boldface looks like this: boldface. A heading centered on a page looks like this: Heading. But HTML describes just presentation style. It can tell you that Jane Doe is a boldface, italic second-level head; it can't tell you if it names a person or a company. XML can tell you all of this. What is meant by calling this particular markup language extensible? HTML codes are fixed; you can't add new ones to suit your needs. But XML codes can be extended. The number of different codes is limited only by your imagination. If the accounting profession was to agree on a set of codes for financial statements, every accounting software manufacturer could incorporate it. The result would be uniformly coded financial statements that users could share across all platforms. For example, consider two merging corporations, using different programs for accounts payable. …