XBRL, a variation of XML (Extensible Markup Language), uses tags to describe various data elements inside financial documents, such as "net income," which is supposed to make it easier for investors to search through and analyze the information.

Reporting requirements for XBRL have been phased in over several years in the U.S. and now all U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission registrants must submit XBRL filings for quarters ending on or after June 15.

"A lot of the [open-source] are for doing some generic processing of XBRL," said Phillip Engel, lead technologist for XBRL U.S., on Monday. "In this challenge, we're looking to expand that."

Moreover, the wealth of XBRL data now available means developers can concentrate on analytical software, Engel said. So far, "the focus has been on tools that help people produce XBRL. Now we're really starting to come to the other side of that and saying, how can we actually use this information?"

Ideally, teams who enter the contest will have members that specialize in programming while others are more steeped in the financial world, XBRL US said.