Association between earnings management and non-GAAP measures

Purpose: To investigate the association between Abnormal Book-Tax Differences (ABTD) and the measures of Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA), and Adjusted EBITDA, as reported by Brazilian publicly traded companies. Methodology: Use of canonical correlation on...

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Main Authors: Gleison de Abreu Pontes, Sirlei Lemes, Jéssica Rayse de Melo Silva, Patrícia de Souza Costa
Format: Article
Language:Portuguese
Published: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte 2025-07-01
Series:Revista Ambiente Contábil
Subjects:
Online Access:https://periodicos.ufrn.br/ambiente/article/view/40759
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author Gleison de Abreu Pontes
Sirlei Lemes
Jéssica Rayse de Melo Silva
Patrícia de Souza Costa
author_facet Gleison de Abreu Pontes
Sirlei Lemes
Jéssica Rayse de Melo Silva
Patrícia de Souza Costa
author_sort Gleison de Abreu Pontes
collection DOAJ
description Purpose: To investigate the association between Abnormal Book-Tax Differences (ABTD) and the measures of Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA), and Adjusted EBITDA, as reported by Brazilian publicly traded companies. Methodology: Use of canonical correlation on data manually collected from Reference Forms regarding EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, as well as information from financial statements needed to estimate ABTD, which were obtained from the Economatica® platform, analyzing the behavior of the variables during the period from 2012 to 2021. Results: The study’s results reveal significant associations between the variables, highlighting that ABTD has a greater influence on EBITDA than on Adjusted EBITDA. This finding suggests that accounting and tax earnings management practices, which can be simultaneously captured in ABTD, go beyond mandatory financial information, making them not directly observable in the values disclosed by companies in measures such as EBITDA. Contributions of the Study: The study contributes to the literature by demonstrating that ABTD can be used for the joint assessment of financial performance measures, revealing possible indications of earnings manipulation. The analysis of the association between ABTD and EBITDA alerts investors and other users to the need for caution when interpreting mandatory and voluntary information disclosed by companies. The study also paves the way for the development of more sophisticated models in future research, deepening the understanding of ABTDA’s influence on measures beyond EBITDA.
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publisher Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte
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series Revista Ambiente Contábil
spelling doaj-art-cc72a9e1546648edb35e6dca907409712025-08-20T03:50:21ZporUniversidade Federal do Rio Grande do NorteRevista Ambiente Contábil2176-90362025-07-0117210.21680/2176-9036.2025v17n2ID4075944916Association between earnings management and non-GAAP measuresGleison de Abreu Pontes0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8421-342XSirlei Lemes1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3334-4240Jéssica Rayse de Melo Silva2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5052-094XPatrícia de Souza Costa3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5087-1419Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU) Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU) Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU).Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU). Purpose: To investigate the association between Abnormal Book-Tax Differences (ABTD) and the measures of Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA), and Adjusted EBITDA, as reported by Brazilian publicly traded companies. Methodology: Use of canonical correlation on data manually collected from Reference Forms regarding EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, as well as information from financial statements needed to estimate ABTD, which were obtained from the Economatica® platform, analyzing the behavior of the variables during the period from 2012 to 2021. Results: The study’s results reveal significant associations between the variables, highlighting that ABTD has a greater influence on EBITDA than on Adjusted EBITDA. This finding suggests that accounting and tax earnings management practices, which can be simultaneously captured in ABTD, go beyond mandatory financial information, making them not directly observable in the values disclosed by companies in measures such as EBITDA. Contributions of the Study: The study contributes to the literature by demonstrating that ABTD can be used for the joint assessment of financial performance measures, revealing possible indications of earnings manipulation. The analysis of the association between ABTD and EBITDA alerts investors and other users to the need for caution when interpreting mandatory and voluntary information disclosed by companies. The study also paves the way for the development of more sophisticated models in future research, deepening the understanding of ABTDA’s influence on measures beyond EBITDA. https://periodicos.ufrn.br/ambiente/article/view/40759Canonical correlation; EBITDA; Adjusted EBITDA; Earnings management; Non-GAAP measures; Earnings quality.
spellingShingle Gleison de Abreu Pontes
Sirlei Lemes
Jéssica Rayse de Melo Silva
Patrícia de Souza Costa
Association between earnings management and non-GAAP measures
Revista Ambiente Contábil
Canonical correlation; EBITDA; Adjusted EBITDA; Earnings management; Non-GAAP measures; Earnings quality.
title Association between earnings management and non-GAAP measures
title_full Association between earnings management and non-GAAP measures
title_fullStr Association between earnings management and non-GAAP measures
title_full_unstemmed Association between earnings management and non-GAAP measures
title_short Association between earnings management and non-GAAP measures
title_sort association between earnings management and non gaap measures
topic Canonical correlation; EBITDA; Adjusted EBITDA; Earnings management; Non-GAAP measures; Earnings quality.
url https://periodicos.ufrn.br/ambiente/article/view/40759
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