Description: This paper is the first in the Transactions to address itself to the problem of general-purpose financial reporting for life insurance companies. The primary purpose of the paper is to demonstrate how a natural reserve approach may be utilized effectively to adjust life insurance earnings in a manner consistent with GAAP. A second purpose of the paper is to demonstrate earnings patterns obtained by several possible alternative approaches to earnings adjustments. From Society of Actuaries Financial Reporting Monograph, M-AS99-1.