The adoption of extensible business reporting language: an empirical investigation of the perceptions of accounting professionals

Abstract

The current study aims to gain a better understanding of XBRL adoption awareness, benefits, drawbacks and suggests XBRL adoption strategies that could be implemented in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Additionally, the study also investigated the relationship between the perception of issues regarding XBRL adoption and demographic characteristics such as gender, age, and professional experience. A survey research instrument was developed and distributed to accountants and auditors working in listed companies in Bahrain Stock Exchange. The results revealed that, XBRL adoption could help in decreasing information asymmetry, while the lack of XBRL training is one of the biggest concerns. It further appears that the most suitable strategy to disseminate XBRL according to the respondents is a voluntary approach rather than a mandated policy. The empirical analysis conducted in this study shows that age, nationality, experience in XBRL and training, impact the perceptions of accountants. The findings also have various practical and policy implications indicating that regulators, policy makers and firms should work together to sustain and improve the awareness, adoption, and reliability of XBRL.

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