Earnings" is kind of a theoretical concept that accountants work on and it can go up and down depending on adjustments they make.

收益则是一种由会计得出的理论概念,会因不同的调整而上下波动

耶鲁公开课 - 金融市场课程节选

And finally they could not hold their traders report the same kind of income other people reported so they threw out the sound accounting and went to the folly accounting.

最后，他们无法像其他人那样,报告相同数目的收入，因此他们,抛弃了健全的会计制度,而转向了愚蠢的会计制度。

斯坦福公开课 - 经济学课程节选