EBITDA vs GAAP vs IFRS: What Your Business Needs to Know

Overview:

"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:

• Revenue recognition under GAAP vs IFRS
• Treatment of depreciation, amortization, and interest
• Handling of one-time or extraordinary items
• Implications for financial ratios and covenants
• Cross-border comparisons and adjustments for international reporting

Why you should Attend:
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.

Areas Covered in the Session:

• Definition and purpose of EBITDA
• Differences between EBITDA, GAAP net income, and IFRS net income
• Revenue recognition and expense treatment under GAAP vs IFRS
• Depreciation, amortization, interest, and one-time items
• Reconciling EBITDA to formal financial statements
• Cross-border and international reporting considerations
• Practical examples for fintechs, banks, MSBs, and payments companies
• Implications for decision-making, risk assessment, and investor communications
• Red flags and common pitfalls when using EBITDA

Who Will Benefit:

• Compliance Professionals
• Risk Managers
• Financial Crime and AML Professionals
• Operations Managers
• Product Managers
• Internal Auditors
• Fintech Partner Managers
• Vendor Management Teams
• Analysts and Business Strategists
• Anyone who reviews or relies on Financial Data