“Everyone agrees that the quality of financial reporting by companies has to be improved if investors are going to regain their trust in corporate America and the capital markets,” writes Gretchen Morgenson in last Sunday’s New York Times.

“One proposal, issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission last month, is aimed at achieving just that. It would reduce the time companies have to file their quarterly financial statements after a quarter’s end to 30 days from 45 days. In addition, the proposal would cut the requirement for filing annual statements to 60 days from the current 90 days.”

“The concept, which is up for industry comment until May 23, may seem fine. But it is flawed and nowhere near what investors need today in improved disclosure, said Jack T. Ciesielski, an accounting authority in Baltimore and editor of The Analyst’s Accounting Observer. He argued that the commission should instead require companies to file their earnings releases and quarterly statements simultaneously, thereby eliminating the gap between the time companies announce their earnings in often-hyperbolic press releases and when they file their more subdued and realistic results to regulators.”

” ‘The problem with the gap is that you have stocks moving on management’s selected information,’ he said. ‘That’s how we got into the whole mess with pro forma figures. If you had all the information at the same time, management might not be so inclined to puffery.’ Eliminating the gap would improve the quality of information, he added.”

“Changes in the timing and delivery of financial information are clearly due. The last time filing deadlines were changed was 30 years ago. Given the wonders of technology, there is no reason to think companies cannot produce ready-for-regulators filings much more quickly than they do now.”

“As things operate now, a company’s quarterly filing arrives at the S.E.C. just when investors are obsessing about the next quarter’s performance. Many investors, thinking they have gotten the facts they need from the earnings release, don’t even bother to peruse the regulatory filing. And that can leave them in the dark.”

“Companies are not likely to applaud Mr. Ciesielski’s recommendation. ‘The big argument you’ll hear from them is that markets want information sooner rather than later,’ he said. ‘But markets want good information, and the markets exact a pretty big cost when they don’t get it. I think investors would be willing to wait a little while for higher quality information.’ “

“Mr. Ciesielski has written to the commission outlining his views. A spokeswoman for the S.E.C. said officials there would have no comment on the proposal until after they had analyzed responses to it.”