While the FAQs are helpful, some questions regarding UTPs remain. One example: It's not yet clear whether companies will need to disclose uncertain tax positions that were recorded before 2010, but continue to produce an impact after 2010 in areas other than net operating losses, Kuykendall notes. This could occur if a company is uncertain about a recurring deduction, such as goodwill amortization. The instructions seem to indicate that it would need to report the UTP in each year after 2009 that a deduction is taken, regardless of when the actual goodwill arose.

Will the disclosure of UTPs make financial statements more useful? At this point, it's hard to say. "My starting premise is that transparency is good," Sadowski says. "But, too much transparency is not good," given that it can lead to voluminous 10K reports, in which important information gets lost in the details, he says.

And, as both companies and the IRS gain more experience with the forms, additional questions are likely, Eliason notes. As a result, more guidance probably is forthcoming. "I don't think this will the last one," he says.

There's an upside, however. If the guidance on UTPs issued so far can be considered a harbinger of what's to come, companies should come out all right, "The things that came out of the FAQs are largely helpful to taxpayers," Kuykendall says.