Saturday, 4 January 2014

Impacts On Commercial Real Estate - Fasb Proposed Lease Accounting Changes

By Frank Miller


The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) on August, 17, 2010 released their "exposure draft" requiring companies to record nearly all leases on their balance sheets as a "right to use" asset, and a corresponding "future lease payment - liability". What does this mean to your business in layman terms? This proposal in essence does away with operating leases; all leases (unless immaterial) would be capitalized using the present value of the minimum lease payments. Therefore, businesses who in the past had off-balance sheet lease obligations, must now record these obligations on their balance sheet.

A Vehicle/Car lease is based on the simple concept that an individual will be paying the amount by which a vehicle's/cars value is depreciated during the time that they are using it. Depreciation simply means the difference between a vehicle's/cars original value and the value at the end of the lease period, and this is the factor that determines the cost of leasing. Buying a car outright or on a Car Loan, or leasing a vehicle/car are options of acquiring a Car, but a Car Lease Takeover is another option you can think of.

The impact of recording these lease obligations on the balance sheet can have multiple impacts, such as: businesses needing to alert their lenders as they will now be non-compliant with their loan covenants, negotiating new loan covenants with the lenders due to the restated financial statements, ratios used to evaluate a businesses potential of credit will be adversely impacted and the restatement of a lessee's financial statement once the change takes effect may result in a lower equity balance, and changes to various accounting ratios The conceptual basis for lease accounting would change from determining when "substantially all the benefits and risks of ownership" have been transferred, to recognizing "right to use" as an asset and apportioning assets (and obligations) between the lessee and the lessor.

As part of FASB's announcement, the Board stated that in their view "the current accounting in this area does not clearly portray the resources and obligations arising from lease transactions." This suggests that the final result will likely require more leasing activity to be reflected on the balance sheet than is currently the case. In other words, many, perhaps virtually all, leases now considered operating are likely to be considered capital under the new standards. Thus, many companies with large operating lease portfolios are likely to see a material change on their corporate financial statements.

But you do have to be aware of and enquire thoroughly with the Lease Takeover Company regarding the costs of a Lease Takeover and the type of lease. You can also get many offers and incentives from the individual trying to get out of a lease. The Company will guide you on all procedures and paperwork involved in a Lease Transfer and getting the Car Lease transferred to your name. Almost all Lease Takeover and Lease Transfer Companies have websites where you can register and browse online for Vehicle/Cars in the listings for lease takeovers.

Whichever Vehicle or Car brand you may be looking for or thinking of buying, a Lease Takeover and Lease Transfer Company lists hundreds of Vehicles and Cars of many brands, makes, models, and years of usage. Whether it is a Ford, Chevrolet, Buick, Honda, etc of whatever make, model, and year, you will find your vehicle of choice, within your budget, at a Vehicle Lease Takeover and Transfer Company. If the Company does not have a Vehicle of your choice or within your budget, they will look for one and inform you as soon as they find the vehicle of your choice.




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