Objective: Learn what you can do with XBRL Required

a. Read the article “Tap Into XBRL’s Power the Easy Way” by Jeffrey W. Naumann, in the May 2004 issue of the Journal of Accountancy and follow the instructions to explore the use of XBRL. (You can find the article online by going to www.aicpa.org and following the links to Online Journal of Accountancy). Note: This requires downloading and installing the Microsoft Office Tool for XBRL, available free at www.microsoft.com/office/solutions/xbrl. Also note that the tool will only work if you have Office 2003.

b. Follow the instructions in the section of the article titled “Comparing and Analyzing Data From Different Sources” to use the XBRL tool to analyze the companies and perform the types of comparisons specified by your instructor.