No. of Recommendations: 1
So if it ain't broke why fix it?
But some argue that it *IS* broken". For businesses that have reqular and well understood flows of business quarter to quarter (like commodity businesses, grocery stores, etc), reporting quarterly is a non-issue because the business flows as usual and it becomes obvious when "business is down" or "business is up". But for other businesses where revenue flows are more irregular, if they are forced to report quarterly, there is always a pervasive temptation to pull/push things (revenue recognition, profit recognition) into a "suitable" quarter regardless of the actual business flow. Not only that, but there is also the huge temptation to push/pull good business events into the quarter where stock options become exercisable. Luckily Berkshire doesn't have this last particular problem for the most part.
I would suggest a comprehensive business report once a year, with audited numbers, and clear profit metrics reported. And perhaps an unaudited quarterly update of sorts that doesn't include actual profit numbers, but rather is a commentary on the general state of the business during the previous quarter. I would also add that any stock-based compensation given to executives must have vesting dates at least 3 months distant from that comprehensive annual report. So if you report annual results in March, executive options vest in July through November. A simple and easy to understand rule that reduces temptation.
