Assume that you are either (a) the president of a company that is very dependent on ongoing research and development, writing a memo to the FASB complaining about the current accounting standards regarding research and development, or (b) the FASB member defending the current standards regarding research and development.

Your memo should address the following questions:

a. By requiring expensing of R&D, do you think companies will spend less on R&D? Why or why not? What are the possible implications for the competitiveness of U.S. companies?

b. If a company makes a commitment to spend money for R&D, it must believe it has future benefits. Shouldnt these costs therefore be capitalized just like the purchase of any long-lived asset that is believed to have future benefits?