АҚШ есеп стандарттары: Жарға берулер есебі

US accounting standard

Accounting for leases in the United States is regulated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) by the Financial Accounting Standards Number 13, now known as Accounting Standards Codification Topic 840 (ASC 840). These standards were effective as of January 1, 1977. The FASB completed in February 2016 a revision of the lease accounting standard, referred to as ASC 842. For state and local governments and agencies, accounting is regulated by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, whose GASB 87 leases standard took effect with the start of fiscal years after June 15, 2021.

A lease is a contract calling for the lessee (user) to pay the lessor (owner) for use of an asset for a specified period of time. A rental agreement is a lease in which the asset is tangible property. As there are many ways to view how these contracts affect the balance sheets of both the lessee and lessor, FASB created a standard for US accountants and businesses.

Under an operating lease, the lessor records rent revenue (credit) and a corresponding debit to either cash/rent receivable. The asset remains on the lessor's books as an owned asset, and the lessor records depreciation expense over the life of the asset. If the rent changes over the life of the lease, normally the rental income is recognized on a straight line basis (also known as rent leveling), and the difference between income and cash received is recorded as a deferred asset or liability (mirroring lessee accounting). Under a capital lease, the lessor credits owned assets and debits a lease receivable account for the present value of the rents (an asset, which is broken out between current and long term, the latter being the present value of rents due more than 12 months in the future). With each payment, cash is debited, the receivable is credited, and unearned (interest) income is credited. If the cost or carrying amount of the asset being leased is different from its fair value at inception, then the difference is recognized as a profit and the lease is called a sales type lease. This most commonly applies when a manufacturer is using leasing as a method of selling its product. Other capital lessor leases, where the cost and fair value are the same, are called direct financing leases. A third type of lessor capital lease, called a leveraged lease, is used to recognize leases where the acquisition of the leased asset is substantially financed by debt.

The Preliminary Views and first Exposure Draft called for eliminating the FAS 13 test which classifies leases as operating leases or capital leases, and treating all leases similarly to current capital leases. All leases would be accounted for as assets and liabilities on the balance sheet – on the asset side as "right of use assets" and on the liability side as lease liabilities; on the income statement, depreciation and interest expense would be recognized instead of rent expense. One implication of this is that expenses are "front loaded," because interest expense is higher in the early part of the lease term while the liability is higher. Following substantial protests from both financial statements preparers and users, the second Exposure Draft reinstated two types of lease accounting, with "Type A" leases treated essentially the same as FAS 13 capital leases and "Type B" leases maintaining the single lease expense, straight line over the life of the lease, that characterizes FAS 13 operating leases, but with an asset and liability on the balance sheet. The liability would be the present value of the remaining rents; the asset would be the same as the liability for simple leases, but then adjusted for scheduled changes in rents (which under FAS 13 result in a deferred rent liability or asset) and amortization of initial direct costs and lease incentives. Effective with the second Exposure Draft, the new standard has been given the new Accounting Standards Codification topic number 842 (the topic number for leases was previously 840). While the first Exposure Draft envisioned including rent judged "more likely than not" to be paid (contingent rents and options to renew) in addition to minimum required rent payments, subsequent decisions by the boards reversed these plans, making the proposed accounting for lessees similar to that of existing capital leases. Lessor accounting was largely reverted to the existing standard. Leases with a maximum term of 12 months or less would be treated in accordance with current operating lease rules. Following the second Exposure Draft, the IASB decided to require all leases to be treated as finance leases. The FASB decided to maintain the traditional distinction between capital (finance) and operating leases (and reverted to that terminology rather than "Type A/B").

In the final ASC 842 release, capital lease accounting has only minor changes, though they are now called "finance leases," consistent with IFRS terminology. The concept of "executory costs," which were excluded from capitalization under FAS 13, has been replaced by "nonlease components," which are payments due as part of a lease agreement which reflect goods or services separate from the asset. Importantly, passthrough costs paid by the lessor and rebilled to the lessee, such as taxes and insurance, no longer qualify to be excluded from capitalization (either for finance or for operating leases). This can mean a substantial difference in balance sheet impact between a real estate gross lease and net lease. The tests to distinguish finance and operating leases are essentially unchanged, though written using "principles based terminology" consistent with IFRS: for instance, a lease is a finance lease if the lease term covers a "major part" of the asset's economic life. The standard states in paragraph 842 10 55 2 that "one reasonable approach" is to use the 75% test of FAS 13, paragraph 7(c) to determine "major part," and the other paragraph 7 tests for the other ASC 842 tests. One additional criterion for finance lease classification is that "The underlying asset is of such a specialized nature that it is expected to have no alternative use to the lessor at the end of the lease term." (However, such a lease would normally have sufficient rent to meet the present value test anyway.) For an operating lease, a liability and a right of use asset are set up at lease inception, at the present value of the rents plus any guaranteed residual. To the asset is added any initial direct costs and subtracted any lease incentives (such as a tenant improvement allowance). The liability is amortized using the interest method (like a mortgage). If the lease has the same rent over its life, the net asset at any point is equal to the liability, plus the unamortized balance of initial direct costs and lease incentives. If the rents change during the lease term, the difference between the cash rent and average rent is added to or subtracted from the asset as well. A single lease expense is recognized for an operating lease, representing a combination of amortizing the asset and the liability. This is considered an operating expense, just as ASC 840 rent expense is, so there is usually no difference in a company's income statement or statement of cash flows compared to ASC 840. Sale leaseback accounting is no longer permitted if the seller lessee has a continuing right of control, such as an option to purchase back the asset at a fixed price. A failed sale leaseback transaction is treated as a financing.

Most lessor accounting is not substantially changed between ASC 840 and ASC 842. The change from executory costs to nonlease components, discussed above, applies equally to lessors. Leveraged leasing is discontinued, though leveraged leases entered into before the effective date of ASC 842 can continue to be accounted for under ASC 840 unless they are modified. The distinction between sales type and direct financing leases has changed: whereas in ASC 840 the test was whether the fair value of the leased asset was different from the lessor's cost or carrying amount (if so, the lease is a sales type lease), in ASC 842, any lessor lease that meets the lessee finance lease tests (based on rents and guaranteed residuals due from the lessee) is a sales type lease; direct financing treatment applies if the lease is capital only because a third party residual guarantee causes the present value test to be met. The primary difference in accounting between a sales type lease and a direct financing lease is that profit for a sales type lease is recognized at inception, while profit for a direct financing lease is recognized over the life of the lease.

The U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2005 estimated that companies had approximately $1.25 trillion of operating lease commitments. By 2015, estimates had risen to $2 trillion. While the FASB specified that operating lease liabilities should be considered "non debt liabilities," so that they should not affect debt ratios and most loan covenants, the addition of an equal asset and liability will reduce most companies' quick ratio, while the fact that an operating lease creates a current liability but not a current asset reduces the current ratio. Companies expected to be most affected include retail chains and airlines.

Usually, when a lease is entered into, a security deposit is required. There are two types of security deposits:
Nonrefundable security deposits: Deferred by the lessor as unearned revenue; Capitalized by the lessee as a prepaid rent expense until the lessor considers the deposit earned. Refundable security deposits: Treated as a receivable by the lessee; Treated as a liability by the lessor until the deposit is refunded to the lessee.