Operating cash flow in 2000, 2001, and 2002 for the S&P 100 was adjusted to remove items that may provide misleading signals of operating performance. Nine adjustments were made, separated into three categories - (1) where flexibility in GAAP for cash flow reporting was used to alter cash flow, (2) where the requirements of GAAP result in misleading operating cash flow amounts, and (3) where nonrecurring operating cash receipts and payments lead to operating cash flow that is non-sustainable. Adjustments resulted in an average reduction in operating cash flow in 2000 of 5% and an average increase in operating cash flow in 2001 of 3.1% and in 2002 of 2.9%. Certain individual company adjustments were quite significant, resulting in some cases, in much more operating cash flow than actually reported, and in other cases, much less
