FAQ

Every data point in an XBRL report is identified by a unique name called an XML tag. In order to get that data point, one just needs to know its name. On the other hand, normalized facts may be specific to each data provider who calculates them. For example, ‘Selling, General & Administrative Expense’ (SG&A) if it is not specifically defined in the company report needs to be defined by the data provider. In this situation, the definitions used by Bloomberg, Capital IQ or other providers may be different. The user needs to always question the way a data provider calculated the value or simply rely on the credibility of the data provider. However, the new option that the users get with XBRL today is the possibility to define his/her own approach to calculating financial metrics. Today, that last option has become extremely easy with the right tools. XBRLAnalyst is an Excel toolbox for building custom financial models and also getting the actual data points from any financial report of any public companies in the US from the time they started using XBRL format.

A: 32/64-bit versions of Office 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, and Office 365. iXBRLAnalyst-VBA is available for Mac too (Office 2011).

Note that Office 2007 exists in 32-bit version only.

A: XBRLAnalyst is a subscription-based platform that combines an Excel Add-in application and financial data delivered by FinDynamics. LiTE is a low-cost subscription offering up to 10,000 single fact database requests. This limit can be increased by purchasing extra data packages. Standard and Corporate subscriptions offer unlimited database requests. In terms of XBRLAnalyst functionality for financial analysis available under each subscription, refer to the Subscriptions page. The corporate version also provides advanced XBRL functionality for accountants, auditors and SEC reporting departments of public filers. All subscriptions also provide access to three additional solutions:
1) iXBRLAnalyst-VBA – VBA Add-in for Excel for Windows and Mac
2) iXBRLAnalyst-Online – Excel Online application
3) XBRLAnalyst-API – Application Programming Interface for developers

A: If you only plan to use financial data occasionally and do not need to load large data sets for research or extensive financial analysis, LiTE subscription may be right for you.

A: Yes, the best way to call XBRLAnalyst functions from VBA macros is to use Application.Run. To call XBRLFact, for instance, you would write:
                     Application.Run(“XBRLFact”, “MSFT”, “[Filing Date]”, “2014-Q3”).

This will return a value with type Variant. However, sometimes this returns an array of data and you need to extract the specific value. In this case, you could do the following:

                    Dim result As Variant
                    Dim filingDate As String
                    result = Application.Run(“XBRLFact”, “MSFT”, “[Filing Date]”, “2014-Q3”)
                    filingDate = result(1)

A: Full XBRLAnalyst application will automatically update to the newest version the next time you restart Excel. If you would like to manually perform the update, just click the Update button on the Ribbon of XBRLAnalyst when it turns green.

A: If you use Excel 2007, download the 32-bit version of XBRLAnalyst (MS Office 2007 is only available in the 32-bit version).
If you use Excel 2010, 2013 or 2016, just watch our short video tutorial about installing XBRLAnalyst 4.x (video thumbnail on the right) where we explain how to check the bit version of your MS Office.
Do not assume that the bit version of MS Office has to match the bit version of your Windows. You may have Windows 64-bit and MS Office 32-bit.

A: If the automatic installation failed, please follow the short manual procedure described below:

1. 1. Download a small “Uninstall utility” (for 32-bit version or 64-bit version of MS Office) that will remove any previous versions of XBRLAnalyst from Excel.
   2. Download the XBRLAnalyst installer from your Account page again and run a fresh installation.
   3. If you still get some errors, please contact our Support.

Always save your Excel workbooks and close Excel before upgrading XBRLAnalyst.

A: You can always manually add XBRLAnalyst in Excel like any other Excel add-in. Just download the corresponding XBRLAnalyst version (32-bit or 64-bit) and add it following standard Microsoft instructions: “Add or remove an Excel add-in“.

A: Your computer is missing an update that you can download from Microsoft http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2468871

A: Your error message looks like this?

Most probably, your Excel Trust Center settings are too strict and you should follow the instruction below (see screenshot). Please go to ‘Excel Options’->’ Trust Center’->’Settings’->’ Add-ins’ and uncheck ‘Require Application Add-ins to be signed by Trusted Publisher’. Although XBRLAnalyst by FinDynamics is always signed with the Digital Signature of FinDynamics, Inc. that you can trust, we use an open-source platform ExcelDNA that cannot be signed. Nevertheless, whenever you download and install our XBRLAnalyst Add-in with the Digital Signature of FinDynamics, Inc., you can be assured that the Add-in includes only trusted open-source components.

A: It is possible that XBRLAnalyst has been disabled by Excel due to some critical error. Bring up the “Excel Options” window by clicking “Options” under the “File” menu. On the left, there should be a section called “Add-Ins” (see screenshot). In the “Add-Ins” section, at the bottom, there is the label “Manage:” with a drop-down menu and a button that says “Go…”. First, set the drop-down menu to “Disabled Items”, and click “Go…”. Make sure that XBRLAnalyst doesn’t show up in the list of disabled items. Second, set the drop-down menu to “Excel Add-ins”, and click “Go…”. Make sure that XBRLAnalyst is checked in the list of add-ins. If XBRLAnalyst doesn’t show up in either menu, it might be that it has been uninstalled. Please try reinstalling by downloading XBRLAnalyst from your profile page on our website.

A: Read the information on this page