ABSTRACT
In this case, Trevor Trueblood, CPA and senior manager of Financial Reporting for an S&P 500 company, is forced to make a choice between not following the SEC guidelines on non-GAAP financial reporting, violating the integrity principle in the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct, and his loyalty obligation to his boss, Ben Mason, who is the CFO and a CPA. Mason appears to be creating a non-GAAP earnings metric to mislead investors’ perception of the value of the organization. Trevor knows that he needs to convince Mason to follow the SEC guidelines regarding the creation and use of non-GAAP metrics.
