New Delhi, April 17 -- Indian businesses will soon have to present their financial statements in a new way to help investors and regulators quickly assess their performance and financial health, two persons informed about the development said. The attempt to make financial statements more relevant, transparent and uniform will apply to all listed companies as well as large unlisted firms.

A new accounting standard prepared by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) based on a global accounting rule change mandates businesses to classify all income and expenses into three defined groups-operating, which deals with core business activities, investing activities, dealing with returns or losses and, financing, which deals with...