Instructor
Justin Muscolino
"EBITDA vs GAAP vs IFRS: What Your Business Needs to Know" provides a practical, structured guide to understanding how EBITDA fits within formal accounting frameworks and what that means for business analysis and decision-making. This session is designed for professionals who need to interpret financial results, assess risk, or evaluate performance metrics without requiring deep accounting expertise.
The course begins by defining EBITDA, explaining its purpose as a measure of operational profitability, and highlighting common uses in performance analysis, benchmarking, and valuation. Participants will learn why EBITDA is popular, yet potentially misleading if considered in isolation.
Next, the training explores GAAP and IFRS frameworks, emphasizing how each standard governs the recognition of revenue, recording of expenses, valuation of assets, and disclosure of liabilities. Participants will learn the key differences in treatment under GAAP vs IFRS, and how these differences impact net income, cash flow, and reported profitability compared to EBITDA.
The course then provides practical examples comparing EBITDA to GAAP- and IFRS-based income for real-world scenarios. Topics include:
EBITDA is commonly referenced in financial analysis, investor presentations, and corporate performance reviews, but it can be misleading if you don't understand its relationship to formal accounting frameworks. EBITDA is a non-GAAP metric, meaning it is not regulated by standardized accounting rules and can be adjusted in various ways by different organizations.
Have you ever compared EBITDA figures between companies only to find the numbers weren't comparable? Have you wondered whether EBITDA reflects real profitability, or whether GAAP or IFRS would show a different picture? Misinterpreting EBITDA can lead to risky decisions, inaccurate performance assessments, and poor strategic choices.
GAAP and IFRS, on the other hand, define standardized methods for recognizing revenue, recording expenses, valuing assets, and reporting liabilities. While EBITDA can provide a quick operational snapshot, it may omit key costs, misrepresent cash flow, or mask financial risks if analyzed without understanding the underlying accounting framework.
