Financial disclosure: when more is not better

A discussion of full and fair financial statement disclosures in the US is presented. It is argued that the current financial disclosure system does not attempt to distinguish between truly decision-critical information and what might be described as non-essential, compliance, and routine data. The sheer quantity of financial disclosures has become so excessive that the overall value of these disclosures has been diminished. The FASB, SEC, and AICPA should step back and systematically consider the totality of the disclosure system. To ease financial disclosure overload, it is suggested that a mandatory 5-year review of all disclosures, along with a 2-tier disclosure system, be implemented. Financial and trade organizations that agree with this viewpoint should make eliminating excessive disclosure a priority issue.