Intellectual capital disclosure via XBRL: an overview of prepares perceptions

Disclosure on intangible assets – usually called intellectual capital (IC) - has experienced a substantial increase in the last decades and many frameworks and guidelines have been issued to provide directions on what constitutes ‘good’ IC disclosure. Companies can use XBRL to “build” their own IC report. It is assumed that the latter has both technical and operating characteristics suitable to represent intangible assets. This paper reports the findings of an Italian survey into the preparers’ views regarding the scope, the taxonomy and the assurance of IC reporting via XBRL. It is found that respondents favour the adoption of XBRL for developing IC reporting. The development of a global reporting framework is found useful. Preferences reveal uncertainty about the level of flexibility for tagging IC information, while indicate a marked inclination for an audit of tagged information certified by an outside party. Overall, despite a low awareness, XBRL appears to be regarded as an efficient driver to communicate and processing IC information.