Sifting through the numbers

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Ethical Dilemma, Financial Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Uncategorized.

According to Bloomberg.com, General Electric (GE) Co.’s last quarter earnings were 28 cents a share. They were also 13 cents a share, 19 cents a share and 15 cents a share — all at the same time. How can this be?

Questions:
1. What do the numbers include or exclude?
2. What are the new CEO and CFO asking to provide in GE’s balance sheet?
3. What has happened to GE’s stock, in part, due to this lack of transparency?
4. In your opinion, what is a good reason why GE’s numbers are any more complex than any other company’s numbers?

Source:
Clough, R. (2017) Everyone’s Fed Up With GE’s Confusing Accounting. Bloomberg, Oct. 16 (Retrievable online at https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-16/ge-s-profit-reports-are-unfathomable-investors-notice-sec-too)