Skip to main content

FASB Issues 16 Minor Amendments To Lease Accounting Standard

FASB issued 16 minor amendments to its new lease accounting standard Thursday, clarifying rules and correcting application of guidance that the board had not intended when it created the standard.
The lease accounting standard (codified in Topic 842, Leases) was issued on Feb. 25, 2016, and takes effect for public companies and certain other entities in 2019. The amendments issued Thursday include issues brought to FASB's attention by stakeholders who were seeking help with implementation.
The amendments affect narrow aspects of the guidance issued in the lease accounting standard. FASB does not expect the clarifications to significantly affect current accounting practice or create significant implementation costs for most entities.
Issues addressed in the amendments are:
  • Residual value guarantees.
  • Rate implicit in the lease.
  • Lessee reassessment of lease classification.
  • Lessor reassessment of the lease term and purchase option.
  • Variable lease payments that depend on an index or a rate.
  • Investment tax credits.
  • Lease term and purchase option.
  • Transition guidance for amounts previously recognized in business combinations.
  • Certain transition adjustments.
  • Transition guidance for leases previously classified as capital leases under Topic 840.
  • Transition guidance for modifications to leases previously classified as direct financings or sales-type leases under Topic 840.
  • Transition guidance for sale and leaseback transactions.
  • Impairment of net investment in the lease.
  • Unguaranteed residual asset.
  • Effect of initial direct costs on rate implicit in the lease.
  • Failed sale and leaseback transaction.
The amendments take effect at the same time as the leases standard. For entities that have early adopted the lease accounting standard, the amendments take effect upon issuance.
The update does not include amendments from the proposed Accounting Standards Update, Leases (Topic 842): Targeted Improvements. That proposal for a new and optional transition method to adopt the new lease accounting standard will be issued by FASB in a future update that will result in additional amendments to transition paragraphs included in Thursday's update.
— By Ken Tysiac (Kenneth.Tysiac@aicpa-cima.com) is a JofA editorial director.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Outreach event on the principles of disclosure discussion paper in Hong Kong

On 5 September 2017, the Hong Kong Institute of CPAs and the IASB will host a joint outreach event in Hong Kong on the IASB dis­cus­sion paper DP/2017/1 'Dis­clo­sure Ini­tia­tive — Prin­ci­ples of Dis­clo­sure'. The event will cover main elements of the  dis­cus­sion paper , including: “what con­sti­tutes effective com­mu­ni­ca­tion in the financial reports;” “what con­sti­tutes fair pre­sen­ta­tion of per­for­mance measures such as EBITDA;” “when, where and how financial in­for­ma­tion should be disclosed.” For more in­for­ma­tion, see the  press release  on the IASB’s website.

The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has said that the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) has huge leadership roles to play with the available manpower to grow the Nigerian economy.

The President of IFAC, Mrs. Olivia Kirtley, at a Breakfast Meeting in Abuja, with the President of ANAN, Anthony Nzom, and the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC ), Ibrahim Magu , among others, made the charge. She said that to grow the Nigerian economy, the roles of accountants are very important and remarkable, as Nigeria is one of the three countries that produce 75 per cent of accountants in Africa, making it a strong base for accounting profession. “ANAN should educate politicians and governments at all levels on the need to have stronger professional Accountants. As an organisation, it should be a champion in knowing things that work well and those that are not working well for the economy. “Accountants need to establish good relationship with government at all levels and the political class to have firm regulation of the profession,’’ Kirtley said. According to her, the capability of accountants to provide financial information to companies and ...

IFRS Foundation issues 2017 IFRS TAXONOMY FORMULA LINKBASE.

The IFRS Foundation has issued the 2017 IFRS Taxonomy Formula Linkbase. The Formula Linkbase is updated from the 2016 version; it is designed to help improve the data quality of IFRS Taxonomy filings and to provide additional guidance for both technical and financial reporting audiences so that they can better understand the IFRS concepts and their meanings.