Tax accounting is based on, and usually follows, GAAP; however, there are numerous exceptions. Practitioners have long been in favor of more conformity between GAAP and tax rules; unfortunately, the thrust in recent years has been away from conformity as Congress, the IRS, and the courts have sought to protect Treasury revenues. The process of determining beginning and year-end inventories enables taxpayers to measure cost of goods sold, gross profit, and ultimately, the net income of the entity. This CPE course will help you gain a full understanding of inventory concepts for federal income tax purposes. Upon completion of this course, you should be able to: Explain when the taking of inventory is required; Compute cost of goods sold; Indicate what items are and aren’t included in inventory; Explain the inventory valuation methods; Describe the UNICAP rules; Identify various costing identification methods and be able to compute inventory under each method