XBRL Final Rule hits Register; Voluntary Program End Date Established

More pieces of the final rule puzzle continue to fall in place, as today the XBRL mandate final rule hit the Federal Register.  This is important for two reasons:

1. Rule is now officially recorded/"on the books"
2. Provides start date of the rule:  April 13, 2009

The latter clarifies an open point that's been unaddressed since the vote to approve the mandate back in December, and that's when the current voluntary filing program comes to end.  Looks like we have our answer.  It's April 12, 2009...the last day for companies to be able to submit XBRL voluntarily, and under the rules of the voluntary program.  Come April 13, 2009, it's the dawn of a new filing day...and the start of the SEC enforcing the XBRL submission rules contained in the EDGAR manual.

The final version of the revised EDGAR manual is the next puzzle piece we await, and our hope is it's not too far from seeing the light of day given the complexities found in the draft version.