Microfinance Taxonomy of MIX gets nod from XBRL International

Microfinance Focus, Dec. 2, 2009: The Microfinance Information Exchange, Inc. has announced that the microfinance taxonomy it developed has been officially acknowledged by XBRL International, the coordinating body for all XBRL activities and standards.
XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) is an open-source technology that is ideal for accounting and business purposes, and is used by leaders in the financial and banking industries, including the FDIC and SEC in the United States; The Bank of Japan, the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Shanghai Stock Exchange in Asia; and banking supervisors and regulators throughout Europe. MIX recently implemented XBRL as their platform for performance, financial and operational data on microfinance institutions (MFIs).
“XBRL will allow us to more efficiently process the large amounts of data we receive from MFIs throughout the developing world. It will also encourage richer data on microfinance, increasing transparency without increasing the reporting burden on MFIs. With XBRL, MFIs reporting to MIX do not have to use new technology or change the way they report to us,” said Scott Gaul, manager of product development at MIX. “MFIs can have numerous reporting requirements – to donor organizations, investors, regulators and more. More organizations are using XBRL, and now that we have a common taxonomy for microfinance, we hope to reduce the reporting burden for MFIs through use of appropriate technology standards.”
The microfinance taxonomy developed by MIX is based on IFRS – International Financial Reporting Standards – with additional concepts and relationships specific to microfinance. “Using IFRS as the basis of the taxonomy allows for a direct link to an accounting standard in use in over 100 countries worldwide and closer alignment of microfinance with mainstream markets,” Mr. Gaul stated.

Eudaimonia Consulting, LLC and Business Reporting – Advisory Group have helped MIX to develop the taxonomy.

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