Intelligent Agents for Competitive Advantage

Abstract

Since 1494 with the appearance of the double-entry accounting system, developed by Pacioli, those involved in business have attempted to measure business performance in an organized manner. As many accounting functions are repetitive in nature (payroll, inventory, etc.), accounting was one of the first business disciplines to which early computing technology was applied. Today we see comprehensive enterprise models that have been incorporated into ISO Standards in an attempt to build quality, capability, and uniformity into business enterprise systems. Supporting these models and systems is an effort to also launch the Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), such that metadata models gain uniformity and make business information more readily accessible across systems and enterprises.