Everyone’s trying to improve financial statements these days.

Earlier this year, we talked to MACPA member and McCormick and Company Controller Ken Kelly about his views on a proposed new financial statement template from the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

Now comes word that an SEC panel has released its final recommendations for how to make financial statements more meaningful for investors and analysts. The report from the SEC Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting offers 25 suggestions in five areas:

1. Making SEC filings more useful.
2. Improving the accounting standards-setting process.
3. Improving the design of new standards.
4. Delineating interpretive guidance.
5. Clarifying guidance on financial restatements and accounting judgments.

“Our recommendations would make financial reports more useful to investors — with clearer guidelines, fewer exceptions and greater focus on really important information,” said Robert C. Pozen, chair of the committee.

SEC Chair Christopher Cox has asked his staff to begin examing the recommendations and “prepare regulatory actions based on them wherever appropriate.”

• Read the committee’s recommendations here.

How would you improve financial statements?