IAS Plus newsletter — Boards issue preliminary views on lease accounting
On 19 March 2009, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) took a significant step toward revamping existing lease accounting rules by issuing a discussion paper (DP) outlining their preliminary views on a new accounting model.
Current lease accounting under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the US (US GAAP) is often criticised as being too reliant on subjective judgements and rigidly defined thresholds. Many believe that such reliance has resulted in economically similar transactions being accounted for differently and has presented opportunities for entities to structure transactions to achieve a desired accounting effect.