Update: EDGAR Online Reports XBRL Filing Results

On Monday, EDGAR Online (EDGR) issued a special report to shareholders announcing their market-share data for the first reporting period subject to the SEC's XBRL mandate. See my earlier summary report on the competitive landscape for this XBRL filings market.

EDGAR Online and RR Donnelley (RRD) formed a partnership to provide XBRL conversion services to companies reporting to the SEC. See their joint website at www.TryXBRL.com.

June 30, 2009 marked the end of the first quarterly period when large public companies were required to file their Form 10-Qs in XBRL data format. A closer analysis of the potential impact of XBRL filings business on EDGR suggests that this new XBRL filings service may well have a material impact on EDGR's future financial results.

The second wave of new XBRL filers in 2010 is estimated to include 1,500 - 2,000 reporting companies, and the final wave in 2011 is for about 10,000 additional companies. It is important to note that this new filing requirement is not a one-time event. XBRL is now the required ongoing format for SEC Forms 10-Q and 10-K.

Depending on EDGAR Online's competitive performance, the XBRL filings business may become a source of high recurring revenue for the company. EDGAR Online is the only publicly traded company that has a material share of its revenue tied to XBRL conversion and XBRL-based financial analytics software programs. Its I-Metrix Pro is now offered as an Excel add-in and also offered via Thomson Reuters's (TRI) Checkpoint financial management service.

As part of its filing mandate, the SEC now requires XBRL-reporting companies to present XBRL-sourced data in their IR website presentations. As a result of new rules, the investor relations communications market is changing. Note the IR product offered by EDGAR Online and Q4 Web Systems. XBRL interactive data offers broad functionality for IR communication services, and I suspect there will be many new web services offered by small web development companies as well as large printers like RR Donnelley and Bowne (BNE).

Disclosure: I am long EDGR.