Non-GAAP financial reporting has evolved from a marginal disclosure practice into a central element of modern corporate communication, shaping how investors, analysts, and regulators interpret firm performance. While non-GAAP measures are often justified as tools for improving the informativeness and relevance of earnings, their increasing prevalence has also generated persistent controversy regarding managerial opportunism, behavioral bias, and comparability across firms and jurisdictions. Drawing strictly on foundational and contemporary accounting literature, this study develops an integrated conceptual analysis of non-GAAP reporting through three interrelated lenses: managerial behavior, corporate governance, and global accounting harmonization. The article synthesizes insights from early capital markets research on earnings informativeness, behavioral studies on executive influence and narcissism, governance-based debates on voluntary disclosure credibility, and international accounting research on comparability under differing GAAP and IFRS regimes. By weaving these streams together, the study demonstrates that non-GAAP reporting cannot be understood solely as a technical adjustment to GAAP earnings but must be interpreted as a behavioral and institutional phenomenon shaped by executive incentives, board oversight, analyst mediation, and regulatory architecture. The analysis further incorporates emerging conceptual perspectives on multi-GAAP reconciliation and technological facilitation, positioning these developments within long-standing debates on relevance versus reliability. The study contributes a comprehensive theoretical framework that explains why non-GAAP reporting persists despite regulatory scrutiny, how managerial traits influence disclosure style, and why comparability remains an unresolved challenge even in harmonized accounting environments. The findings offer implications for standard setters, regulators, and market participants seeking to balance flexibility with credibility in financial reporting.

Non-GAAP reporting, managerial behavior, corporate governance, earnings informativeness

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