Case 7-7 Non-GAAP Metric Disclosure by General Electric: Value Added, Red Herring, or Red Flag?

I’m stuck on a Accounting question and need an explanation.

• Please read the case in your text book and answer the following questions.
• The answer to each of the four questions should be 100 words.
• I will be looking for proper grammar and good sentence structure so please keep that in mind.

1. Consider the costs/harms and benefits of disclosing non-GAAP financial numbers. What value, if any, do you see in the use of non-GAAP metrics?
2. What responsibilities do auditors currently have related to the use of non-GAAP measures by their attest clients? What responsibilities do you think they should have? Be specific.
3. Do you believe that GE is attempting to manage earnings by disclosing five different non-GAAP measures? Explain.
4. If you were a financial analyst looking at GE’s metrics in Exhibit 1, what questions would you ask and why?

Case 7-7 Non-GAAP Metric Disclosure by General Electric: Value Added, Red Herring, or Red Flag?