In the United States, accounting for inventory is a difficult issue. Inventory is com- prised of those items either purchased or manufactured to be resold at a profit. Numerous methods are available to account for inventory for financial reporting purposes. A very commonly used method-called LIFO (last-in, first-out)-is the one that minimizes a company's tax obligation. In the United Kingdom, however, LIFO is not permitted for tax purposes and thus is not used very often for financial re- porting. In Turkey, severe restrictions are placed on the use of LIFO, and in Russia, LIFO is a foreign term. Only in Germany, where the tax laws have been modified to allow the use of LIFO, can one see LIFO being adopted. Different accounting meth- ods are available in accounting for numerous other issues. Identify some major prob- lems associated with comparing the financial statements of companies from different countries.