In the competition era, the research and development activity is one of the ways which many managers choose to survive their company. The specific character of research and development activities are : a research project which may take years to reach the fruition, need lots of funds, the results are difficult to measure quantitatively, and insufficient certainty factor. Acconting treatment for research and development expenses, which declared by Ikatan Akuntan Indonesia (IAI) in 1994 as stated in Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (PSAK) No. 20, invites pro and contra reactions. From the management perspective, research and development activities should be looked as a long-term investment. Heryanto S. Gani
