The number of firms reporting earnings on a non-GAAP basis has dramatically increased over the past decade, and non-GAAP reporting is now commonplace in capital markets. This proliferation of non-GAAP reporting has renewed both regulators' and standard setters' interest in these alternative...

Over the past two decades, the regulatory landscape for non-GAAP reporting has evolved significantly. Despite a temporary decline in the frequency of non-GAAP reporting following Regulation G, the incidence of non-GAAP disclosure has continued to increase steadily, leading to a current all-time...

We compare non-GAAP EPS in annual earnings announcements and proxy statements using hand-collected data from SEC filings. We find that proxies for capital market incentives (contracting incentives) are more highly associated with disclosure of non-GAAP EPS in annual earnings announcements (proxy...

Researchers frequently proxy for managers' non‐GAAP disclosures using performance metrics available through analyst forecast data providers (FDPs), such as I/B/E/S. The extent to which FDP‐provided earnings are a valid proxy for managers' non‐GAAP reporting, however, has been debated...

We use a novel dataset to examine the across-time consistency and across-firm comparability of firms’ non-GAAP earnings disclosures. We begin by identifying firms that change their non-GAAP earnings definition from one year to the next. These deviations are uncommon, but when managers change...

The SEC has recently raised renewed concerns about firms' reporting of adjusted (non-GAAP) earnings metrics. Regulators have significant interest in understanding the factors that help constrain non-GAAP reporting. We first provide evidence on the relation between securities litigation risk and...

The Securities and Exchange Commission encourages the presentation of information or data in graphical form to improve users’ ability to understand financial disclosures. We observe a dramatic increase in the disclosure of both qualitative and quantitative infographics in 10-Ks from 2003-2020....

We use a novel data set to examine the across-time consistency and across-firm comparability of firms’ non-GAAP earnings disclosures. Given widespread concern about non-GAAP reporting among regulators, standard setters, the investor community, and academics, our investigation provides timely...

The Canadian Accounting Standards Board (AcSB) issued an exposure draft on a proposal to adopt a separate 'Made in Canada' GAAP for private enterprises. This new GAAP is justified as being consistent with the current FASB/IASB conceptual framework, but as being responsive to the different...

This study examines the influence of investor sentiment on managers' discretionary disclosure of ldquo;pro formardquo; (adjusted) earnings metrics in earnings press releases. We find that managers' propensity to disclose an adjusted earnings metric increases with the level of investor sentiment...