A recent survey by independent global professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal Taxand revealed that lack of certainty in accounting legislation was a primary concern for the 800 CFOs and senior financial executives who participated.

The importance of certainty in the Tax Code to assist in maintaining accounting compliance has even outpaced that of reducing corporate tax rates, respondents indicated. Barely one-quarter (29 percent) of large businesses were found to model the impact of tax proposals, while just 15 percent of small companies did so.

"The impact of these reforms is judged to be too speculative, especially in the face of other more immediate pressures, emphasizing the hesitancy by companies to take action," said A&M Taxand managing director Kent Wisner in a statement.

"For companies to plan, to invest, to create jobs and to grow, they must have certainty," added A&M Taxand CEO Robert N. Lowe.

In her 2011 Annual Report to Congress, national taxpayer advocate Nina Olson noted that more than 4,400 changes were made to the tax code in the decade leading up to 2010 - including nearly 600 alterations in 2010 alone.