Finance lease

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A finance lease (also known as a capital lease or a sales lease) is a type of lease in which a finance company is typically the legal owner of the asset for the duration of the lease, while the lessee not only has operating control over the asset but also some share of the economic risks and returns from the change in the valuation of the underlying asset. [1]

Contents

More specifically, it is a commercial arrangement where:

A finance lease has similar financial characteristics to hire purchase agreements and closed-end leasing as the usual outcome is that the lessee will become the owner of the asset at the end of the lease, but has different accounting treatments and tax implications. There may be tax benefits for the lessee to lease an asset rather than purchase it and this may be the motivation to obtain a finance lease.

Impact on accounting

The key IFRS criterion is:

If "substantially all the risks and rewards" of ownership are transferred to the lessee then it is a finance lease. If it is not a finance lease then it is an operating lease. The transfer of risk to the lessee may be shown by lease terms such as an option for the lessee to buy the asset at a low price (typically the residual value) at the end of the lease. The nature of the asset (whether it is likely to be used by anyone other than the lessee), the length of the lease term (whether it covers most of the useful life of the asset), and the present value of lease payments (whether they cover the cost of the asset) may also be factors.

IFRS does not provide a rigid set of rules for classifying leases and there will always be borderline cases. It is also still sometimes possible to use leases to make balance sheets look better, provided that the lessee can justify treating them as operating leases.

The classification of large transactions, such as sale and leasebacks of property, may have a significant effect on the accounts and on measures of financial stability such as gearing. However, it is worth remembering that an improvement in financial gearing may be offset by a worsening of operational gearing and vice versa.

Accounting treatment by country

International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)

In the over 100 countries that govern accounting using International Financial Reporting Standards, the controlling standard is IFRS 16, "Leases" which an entity shall apply for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019. IFRS 16, phased out the previous test for lessees. Lessors continue to apply this test. For a lessor, a lease is financed if any of the following five criteria (IFRS 16.63) are met: (a) the lease transfers ownership of the underlying asset to the lessee by the end of the lease term; (b) the lessee has the option to purchase the underlying asset at a price that is expected to be sufficiently lower than the fair value at the date the option becomes exercisable for it to be reasonably certain, at the inception date, that the option will be exercised; (c) the lease term is for the major part of the economic life of the underlying asset even if the title is not transferred; (d) at the inception date, the present value of the lease payments amounts to at least substantially all of the fair value of the underlying asset; and (e) the underlying asset is of such a specialised nature that only the lessee can use it without major modifications.

IFRS 16.22 requires all lessees to recognize all leases as finance leases (a right-of-use asset and a lease liability) however a lessee may elect (IFRS 16.5) not to apply this requirement to: (a) short-term leases; and (b) leases for which the underlying asset is of low value.

IAS 17 is now transitioning to IFRS 16, as a joint project with the U.S. lease accounting standard. The standard was published in 2016, with companies required to have implemented it by 2019 or earlier. The criteria for being classified as a finance lease are similar to the above, but judgment is required - simply meeting one requirement may not be enough.

US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP)

As part of the convergence project with IFRS, The FASB replaced topic ASC 840 with topic ASC 842 (from December 15, 2018, for SEC-registered companies and December 15, 2021, for all remaining entities).

Similarly to IFRS 15, ASC 842 requires lessees to recognize a right-of-use asset and a lease liability for all leases except short-term leases (ASC 842 does not include an exception for low-value assets).

Unlike IFRS 16, ASC 842 retains the test to determine if a lease is operating or financial (it adopted the same 5 criteria IFRS 16 applies to lessors). However, an operating lease under ASC 842 is significantly different from an operating lease under ASC 840. As a result, the only practical difference between a financial and operating lease under ASC 842 is that the liability is amortized using an effective interest rate (financial lease) or straight-line (operating lease).

ASC 842 also simplified the guidance For lessors by eliminating "leveraged type" leases.

Australia

In Australia, the accounting standard pertaining to leases is AASB 117 'Leases'. AASB 117 was released in July 2004. AASB 117 'Leases' applies to accounting for leases other than (a) leases to explore for or use minerals, oil, natural gas, and similar non-regenerative resources; and (b) licensing agreements for such items as motion picture films, video recordings, plays, manuscripts, patents, and copyrights.

According to AASB 117, paragraph 4, a lease is an agreement whereby the lessor conveys to the lessee in return for a payment or series of payments the right to use an asset for an agreed period of time. [2]

A lease is classified as a finance lease if it "transfers substantially all the risks and rewards incidental to ownership of an asset." (AASB 117, p8) There are no strict guidelines as to what constitutes a finance lease, however, guidelines are provided within the standard. [3]

India

A finance lease is one in which risks and rewards incidental to the ownership of the leased asset are transferred to the lessee but not the actual owner. Thus, in the case of a finance lease, we can say that notional ownership is passed to the lessee. The amount paid as interest during the lease period is shown on the Proprietary Limited DR side of the lessee.

Features:

United States

Under US accounting standards, a finance (capital) lease is a lease that meets at least one of the following criteria:

Following the GAAP accounting point of view, such a lease is classified as essentially equivalent to a purchase by the lessee and is capitalized on the lessee's balance sheet. See Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 13 (FAS 13) for more details on classification and accounting.

Special Case: Finance Leases under UCC Article 2A

The term sometimes means a special case of lease defined by Article 2A of the Uniform Commercial Code (specifically, Sec. 2A-103(1) (g)). Such a finance lease recognizes that some lessors are financial institutions or other business organizations that lease the goods in question purely as a financial accommodation and do not want to have the warranty and other entanglements that are usually associated with leases by companies that are manufacturers or merchants of such goods. Under a UCC 2A finance lease, the lessee pays the payments to the lessor (and indeed must do so, regardless of any defect in the leased goods – this obligation usually being contained in a "hell or high water" clause), but any claims related to defects in the leased goods may be brought only against the actual supplier of the goods. UCC 2A finance leases are usually easy to identify because they commonly contain a clause specifically declaring that the lease is to be considered a finance lease under UCC 2A.

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balance sheet</span> Accounting financial summary

In financial accounting, a balance sheet is a summary of the financial balances of an individual or organization, whether it be a sole proprietorship, a business partnership, a corporation, private limited company or other organization such as government or not-for-profit entity. Assets, liabilities and ownership equity are listed as of a specific date, such as the end of its financial year. A balance sheet is often described as a "snapshot of a company's financial condition". It is the summary of each and every financial statement of an organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lease</span> Contractual agreement in which an assets owner lets someone else use it in exchange for payment

A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user to pay the owner for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial or business equipment are also leased. Basically a lease agreement is a contract between two parties: the lessor and the lessee. The lessor is the legal owner of the asset, while the lessee obtains the right to use the asset in return for regular rental payments. The lessee also agrees to abide by various conditions regarding their use of the property or equipment. For example, a person leasing a car may agree to the condition that the car will only be used for personal use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fair value</span> Financial estimation of potential market price

In accounting, fair value is a rational and unbiased estimate of the potential market price of a good, service, or asset. The derivation takes into account such objective factors as the costs associated with production or replacement, market conditions and matters of supply and demand. Subjective factors may also be considered such as the risk characteristics, the cost of and return on capital, and individually perceived utility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Off-balance-sheet</span> Asset, debt, or financing activity not on a companys balance sheet

In accounting, "off-balance-sheet" (OBS), or incognito leverage, usually describes an asset, debt, or financing activity not on the company's balance sheet. Total return swaps are an example of an off-balance-sheet item.

Closed-end leasing is a contract-based system governed by law in the U.S. and Canada. It allows a person the use of property for a fixed term, and the right to buy that property for the agreed residual value when the term expires.

A leveraged lease or leased lender is a lease in which the lessor puts up some of the money required to purchase the asset and borrows the rest from a lender. The lender is given a senior secured interest on the asset and an assignment of the lease and lease payments. The lessee typically makes payments directly to the lender as the lease payments are assigned to the lender.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Accounting for leases in the United States</span> 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. 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.

The expression "operating lease" is somewhat confusing as it has a different meaning based on the context that is under consideration. From a product characteristic stand point, this type of a lease, as distinguished from a finance lease, is one where the lessor takes larger residual risk, whereas finance leases have no or a very low residual value position. As such, the operating lease is non full payout. From an accounting stand point, this type of lease results in off balance sheet financing which can be advantageous for companies in terms of gearing and other accounting ratios.

A novated lease is a motor vehicle lease which has been novated, that is, the obligations in the contract have been transferred from one party to another.

Minimum lease payments are rental payments over the lease term including the amount of any bargain purchase option, premium, and any guaranteed residual value and excluding any rental relating to costs to be met by the lessor and any contingent rentals. Leased asset is depreciated in books of lessee over its useful life if lessee intends to avail bargain purchase option otherwise depreciable period will be lease term. Cost of leased asset in books of lessee for depreciation purposes will include bargain purchase option But will exclude the Guaranteed residual value as the case maybe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hell or high water clause</span>

A hell or high water clause is a clause in a contract, usually a lease, which provides that the payments must continue irrespective of any difficulties which the paying party may encounter, usually in relation to the operation of the leased asset. The clause usually forms part of a parent company guarantee that is intended to limit the applicability of the doctrines of impossibility or frustration of purpose. The term for the clause comes from a colloquial expression that a task must be accomplished "come hell or high water", that is, regardless of any difficulty.

Leaseback, short for "sale-and-leaseback", is a financial transaction in which one sells an asset and leases it back for the long term; therefore, one continues to be able to use the asset but no longer owns it. The transaction is generally done for fixed assets, notably real estate, as well as for durable and capital goods such as airplanes and trains. The concept can also be applied by national governments to territorial assets; prior to the Falklands War, the government of the United Kingdom proposed a leaseback arrangement whereby the Falklands Islands would be transferred to Argentina, with a 99-year leaseback period, and a similar arrangement, also for 99 years, had been in place prior to the handover of Hong Kong to mainland China. Leaseback arrangements are usually employed because they confer financing, accounting or taxation benefits.

Aircraft finance refers to financing for the purchase and operation of aircraft. Complex aircraft finance shares many characteristics with maritime finance, and to a lesser extent with project finance.

A foreign exchange hedge is a method used by companies to eliminate or "hedge" their foreign exchange risk resulting from transactions in foreign currencies. This is done using either the cash flow hedge or the fair value method. The accounting rules for this are addressed by both the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and by the US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles as well as other national accounting standards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Car finance</span> Financial products enabling ownership of a car

Car finance refers to the various financial products which allow someone to acquire a car, including car loans and leases.

Substance over form is an accounting principle used "to ensure that financial statements give a complete, relevant, and accurate picture of transactions and events". If an entity practices the 'substance over form' concept, then the financial statements will convey the overall financial reality of the entity, rather than simply reporting the legal record of transactions (form). In accounting for business transactions and other events, the measurement and reporting is for the economic impact of an event, instead of its legal form. Substance over form is critical for reliable financial reporting. It is particularly relevant in cases of revenue recognition, sale and purchase agreements, etc. The key point of the concept is that a transaction should not be recorded in such a manner as to hide the true intent of the transaction, which would mislead the readers of a company's financial statements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asset</span> Economic resource, from which future economic benefits are expected

In financial accounting, an asset is any resource owned or controlled by a business or an economic entity. It is anything that can be used to produce positive economic value. Assets represent value of ownership that can be converted into cash . The balance sheet of a firm records the monetary value of the assets owned by that firm. It covers money and other valuables belonging to an individual or to a business.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IFRS 16</span>

IFRS 16 is an International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) promulgated by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) providing guidance on accounting for leases. IFRS 16 was issued in January 2016 and is effective for most companies that report under IFRS since 1 January 2019. Upon becoming effective, it replaced the earlier leasing standard, IAS 17.

Ijarah,, is a term of fiqh and product in Islamic banking and finance. In traditional fiqh, it means a contract for the hiring of persons or renting/leasing of the services or the “usufruct” of a property, generally for a fixed period and price. In hiring, the employer is called musta’jir, while the employee is called ajir. Ijarah need not lead to purchase. In conventional leasing an "operating lease" does not end in a change of ownership, nor does the type of ijarah known as al-ijarah (tashghiliyah).

References

  1. The Principles & Practices of Leasing by K V Kamath et al published by Lease Asia 1990 especially chapter 2
  2. Compiled AASB Standard AASB 117 - Leases (PDF). Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB). December 1, 2009.
  3. Craig Deegan (2005). Australian Financial Accounting, 4th edition. ISBN   0-07-471479-1.