As U.S. regulators consider whether it's possible to makecompanies' financial disclosures clearer, most companies are goingahead and making changes to their financial statements withoutwaiting for regulators to act.

The documents that companies have to file with the Securitiesand Exchange Commission, such as the annual 10-K and quarterly 10-Qfilings and the proxy statement, have grown longer and moreconvoluted as companies have responded to wave after wave ofaccounting regulations. The SEC is taking a look at such filingsafter Chairwoman Mary Jo White announced a disclosureeffectiveness initiative last year. But a recent survey by the Financial Executives Research Foundation(FERF) and Ernst & Young found that 74% of the companies thatresponded already are taking steps to improve their financialreporting.

The survey of 120 finance, accounting, and financial reportingexecutives shows the most popular targets for such improvements arecompanies' 10-Qs and 10-Ks, both of which were cited by 75% ofrespondents. Just about a quarter said they have made improvementsto their earnings releases or proxy statements.