In the late 1990s, the Department of Treasury began to focus in earnest on the growing difference between financial statement income and tax return income , the so-called book-tax gap. The result is the recently developed Schedule M-3. The article discusses the most important aspects of the new form and detail how this new book-tax reconciliation tool will improve the IRS risk analysis and audit selection process and the examination process.

A Review of Schedule M-3: The Internal Revenue Service's New Book-Tax Reconciliation Tool. Boynton, Charles and Wilson, William, Spring 2006, pp. 1‑16.

Recently corporate failures and enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 caused companies to revisit their antifraud-related policies and procedures. As a consequence, companies expended substantial resources on strengthening internal controls and reducing the risk of fraudulent behavior by employees. However, the companies' implementation strategies largely ignore the premise that cultural differences influence employees' responses to potentially fraudulent situations. This study examines the link between culture and ethical decision making in the context of international oil and gas operations.

Employee Recognition and Assessment of Fraud Schemes: An International Perspective. Wright, Charlotte; Johnson, Carol B.; and Dorr, Patrick B., Spring 2006, pp. 17‑40.

FASB Statement No. 143 requires recognition of the liability for retiring oil and gas structures that are likely to have a material impact on the financial statements of companies. In Part 2 of this four-part series on FASB 143, the costs to decommission offshore structures in the Gulf of Mexico are estimated across the three main stages of the operation: plugging and abandonment, structure removal, and site clearance and verification.

Accounting for Offshore Structure Retirement Obligations: Part II. Decommissioning Cost Estimation. Kaiser, Mark J., Spring 2006, pp. 41‑59.