With the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission continuing to weigh how it will rule about the potential transition from U.S. GAAP to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), many companies are concerned about how the global accounting rules may affect their businesses. In fact, we're seeing increased focus on IFRS on the part of both our clients and competitors, which is why it's important for our professionals to remain engaged in the marketplace.

For technology companies, adoption of IFRS could significantly change the method of financial reporting for research and development expenditures, particularly the requirement to capitalize certain development costs.

To help tech executives gain an early understanding of the potential ways in which conversion to IFRS may affect their accounting policies in this area, KPMG has published IFRS for Technology Companies: Closing the GAAP-R&D Activities and Related Intangible Assets. Topics addressed in this white paper include:

• What R&D expenditures should be recognized as an asset
• Considerations for subsequent measurement of intangibles
• Useful life and amortization retirements and disposals
• First time adoption considerations.