INTROUDCTION
AASB 117 Leases requires lessees to classify leases as either finance leases or operating leases. The accounting treatment required under each approach is very different and this has raised concerns by investors and other financial statement users regarding the usefulness of the information provided. This essay will critically discuss and the criticisms and usefulness of lease accounting treatment. It will also examine lessee firm’s responses to Australian Standard 117 Accounting for Leases.
Definition of capital and operating lease
AASB 117 provides the current rules for leases. In general terms, the lessee classifies leasing transactions under one of two categories. The current state of practice requires the
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Whether lease should be classified as finance/capital leases or operating leases, has essential influences on other issues such as capitalisation of finance/capital leases and disclosure of operating leases by lessees. Without a clear distinction between a finance/ capital lease and an operating lease, it is unlikely that the lessee be required to capitalise the lease. This has led to inconsistent accounting for arrangements that meet the definition of a lease and similar arrangement that do not.
According to AASB 117, the operating lease structure is a form of off-balance sheet accounting, which means the lease obligation is not reported as a liability on the balance sheet. Critics claims that as a result of desirability of operating lease classification, lease parties commonly structure leases in such a way to avoid capital lease accounting by a thin margin and uses it as a source of off-balance-sheet financing This is a source of unrecognised financing and it can be difficult for users to understand. Moreover, the adjustments are inconsistent and frequently understate the lease obligations.
Furthermore, the lack of transparency caused by current lease classification rules and the resulting lease structuring that occurs to avoid meeting those rules creates significant problems for users in assessing the true financial condition and risk of companies. It can even affects naively calculated debt-equity ratios, the “ footnote only” disclosure and further
Another way to treat this provision would be not to recognize at the inception of the lease but directly expense the costs when the required maintenance is performed. Regarding the accrual method in Alternative 1, ASC 360-15-25-5 prescribes “the use of accrue-in-advance (accrual) method of accounting for planned maintenance activities is prohibited in annual and interim financial reporting periods.” This is consistent to FASB’s opinion
Case 11-6 deals with Lessee Ltd., a company that operates in Britain and uses IFRS. The question in this case is how to classify a lease that Lessee, Ltd. acquired from Lessor Inc. The accounting standard that deals with leases under IFRS is IAS 17. IAS 17 was originally issued in September 1982 and was reissued in December 2003. It classifies leases as either finance leases or operating leases. Finance leases make it so that the lessee recognizes an asset and a liability and the lessor recognizes a receivable, basically transferring all the risks and benefits of ownership. Under operating leases, the lessor still recognizes the asset and the lessee recognizes an expense.
The reason we want to capitalise the lease commitments is that reporting under operating assets leads to substantial amounts of off-balance-sheet assets and liabilities. Hence, it is difficult to compare financial statements between two similar companies but use different accounting methods for essentially the same transaction.
C. In a sales-type lease the carrying value of the asset is charged to cost of the asset leased (expense), and the present value of the minimum lease payment as the amount of the sale. For direct financing leases no sales or expense is recognized because the asset is removed from the books. The difference between its carrying value and the undiscounted minimum lease payments is recorded as unearned interest revenue. The net investment in a sales type lease ia accounted for in a similar manner as a direct financing
Then thirdly, the operating lease is when the lessor depreciates the leased asset according to its depreciation policy. The maintenance costs of the leased asset are charged as an expense, the costs, such as finder’s fees and credit checks, are amortized over the lease term, and the leased equipment and accumulated depreciation are shown as equipment leased to others. Usually any lease that do not fall under the criteria for a direct financing lease or sales-type lease are recorded as an operating lease.
To classify the arrangement, ASC 840-10-25-29 states that “If at its inception a lease meets any of the four lease classification criteria in paragraph 840-10-25-1, the lease shall be classified by the lessee as a capital lease.” On the contrary, if none of the criteria is meet, the lease should be classified as an operating lease (ASC 840-10-25-30)
Dhaliwal, Dan, 2011. The Impact of Operating Leases on Firm Financial and Operating Risk.. Journal of Accounting, Auditing & Finance., [Online]. Volume 26 Issue 2, 151-197.. Available at: http://web.ebscohost.com.simsrad.net.ocs.mq.edu.au/ehost/detail?vid=3&sid=9317bb11-bcea-4e15-99f8-3930c890a726%40sessionmgr111&hid=103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl
At the lease commencement, finance leases are capitalised at the fair value of the leased property, otherwise the present value of the minimum lease payments if lower (MHI, 2014). Other short term and long term payables include the relevant rental obligations and net of finance charges (MHI, 2014). Every lease payment is apportioned between the liability and finance charges (MHI, 2014). The finance cost is indicated in the comprehensive income statement for the lease period as well as to generate a constant periodic rate of interest on the remaining balance of the liability for each period (MHI, 2014). During the lease term, the depreciation is considered for the useful life of the asset such as the property, plant and equipment assigned under finance leases (MHI, 2014). The portion of the risks and rewards of ownership are persevered by the lessor are categorized as operating leases for leases (MHI, 2014). For the period of the lease, all payments made under operating leases less any incentives from lessor are indicated in the comprehensive income statement on a straight-line basis (MHI,
Wide range of entities will be impacted by the introduction of AASB 15, especially in the industry of construction, manufacturing, telecommunications and real estate (Moore Stephens Australia, 2015). While Deloitte (2016) stated that many companies may face a challenging implementation as AASB could not only impact an organisation’s financial reporting, but also may have changes to existing processes, internal controls and other business elements. For Lend lease, many impacts might be arisen on transaction as it is a construction company. The first one can be concluded that by adopting AASB 15, construction companies like Lend lease can bring revenue forward. An example of AASB 15 may result in revenue being recognised earlier than existing accounting standard is where the construction contract includes an award bonus. AASB 15 will include the bonus from the
David Jones does not included leases as part of their intangible assets but Myer does. This shows the different ways of recording accounting record between its competitors, and managers have an incentive to determine on the choice of recording items. This reflects business operation reflecting in its underlying business reality. Therefore, manager has higher chance to manipulate the accounting
A sales-type lease is defined in ASC 840-10-25-43(a) and states, “A lease is a sales-type lease if it gives rise to manufacturer’s or dealer’s profit (or loss) to the lessor (that is, the fair value of the leased property at lease inception is greater or less than its cost or carrying amount, if different) and meets either of the following conditions,” and the conditions it must meet are the conditions for a capital lease and the payments must be reasonably predictable and no important uncertainties about the payments should be present as stated in ASC 840-10-25-42. The conditions for classifying a capital lease are described in ASC 840-10-25-1. The journal entries would differ from the others as it would include sales revenue in the initial recording.
Why did the FASB embark on a project to change the reporting standard for leases? Under the current financial reporting standards for leases, an entity has to determine the classification of leases to account for by applying bright-line rules. This creates a potential opportunity for management to structure leases in order to achieve a specific desired accounting results (FASB). In addition, the current accounting model does not require operating leases to be recognized on the balance sheet. As a result, investors may underestimate the assets and liabilities that arise from leases and, thus, cause an uninformed decision of investment. According to a 2014 study on public company filings, nearly a trillion U.S. dollars were reported in
In order to gain a full perspective on this issue, it is important to first define the concept of a lease. A lease is an agreement conveying the right to use property, plant, and equipment (PP&E) usually for a stated period of time (Diffen, 2015). The two parties involved are the lessee (party paying for use of the asset) and the lessor (party that owns the asset but is leasing to another). Leasing has become incredibly popular, especially for organizations that may be just starting and are attempting to avoid long term investments of
The objective of AASB 116 is to stipulate the accounting treatment for property, plant and equipment, make user can understand information about an entity’s investment in its property, plant and equipment, and the changes in entity’s investment. The main issue for property, plant and equipment in accounting are the recognition of relationship between assets, the determination of their carrying amounts, the depreciation charges and impairment losses. AASB 116 required the entity disclose it’s information of gross carrying amount, depreciation method, depreciation rate, useful lives of PPE, accumulated depreciation and reconciliation of carrying amount at beginning of the reporting period and at end of the reporting period.
books and depreciated, and the lessee recognizes lease payments in the income statement in the period in which it is paid.