USA Cash Flow Statement

[JohnSmith]

As per IAS 7, interest received and paid can be classified as either operating, financing and investing activities. Will this not prevent inter firm comparison if a company present interest paid and received under operating activities and another firm in the same industry present interest paid and received under financing activities as most cash flow analysis is done with the 'cash flow from operating activities' section. If so, what should we do to allow for inter firm comparison?