This paper brings to the accounting literature the results of recent research from other disciplines on a measure called duration and examines its potential usefulness in capital budgeting decisions. Duration is defined as the number of periods which elapse before the average present value dollar is received from a stream of cash flows. In this paper, the authors define duration and describe its major attributes. Its potential for assessing the risk of changes in required rates of return and the risk of illiquidity are then explored in a capital budgeting setting.

The information about corporate income taxes disclosed in annual reports has changed significantly since the issuance of Accounting Series Release No. 149 in 1973. Several important issues remain unresolved, however, including the measurement of income tax expense for multiple corporate entities, the application of the indefinite reversal criteria for certain differences between book and taxable income, and the disclosure of current income taxes when the deferral method of accounting for the investment credit is used. Examples from corporate annual reports are used in this article to identify underlying reasons for these reporting concerns, and proposals for improved disclosure are offered.