Decision on lessee model clears way for lease accounting project’s final act

Accounting standard setters agreed Wednesday on a lessee accounting approach, setting the stage for a lease accounting exposure draft in the fourth quarter this year.

The US Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board previously agreed that leases should be recorded on the balance sheet, but have been debating the classification and pattern of expenses in the income statement. They voted Wednesday to support a lessee accounting model with different lease-expense recognition patterns for different leases (with the exception of short-term leases.)

The decision and some related revisions to the lessor accounting model were described by the boards as the last substantive decisions to be made before they re-expose the lease accounting proposals. IASB Chairman Hans Hoogervorst, said in a statement that the boards are now on track to complete the leasing project in 2013.

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