Share this article Share this article DALLAS, Feb. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- For many private companies, fully understanding the new lease accounting standards (ASC 842, IFRS 16, and GASB 87) has been an immediate source of frustration. Gaining lease compliance by the beginning of 2022 seems daunting and complicated. This paper summarizes the changes in the accounting standard for lessees and steps to take to ensure a smooth transition. Why the shift from ASC 840 to ASC 842? Imagine a company that is in the business of making airplanes and has no airplanes recorded on the balance sheet. Instead, the company records them all as operating leases, and the leases hit the disclosures of the financial statements and not on the balance sheet. Well, ASC 842 closes this lease accounting off-balance-sheet loophole, which allows corporations to report their operating leases, often a major portion of the lease portfolio, in the footnotes of financial statements. Under the new standard, companies are required to capitalize operating leases on the balance sheet as right-of-use assets and lease liabilities except if they are short-term leases. As a result of the shift, operating lease obligations face increased auditor scrutiny, pushing companies to focus on ensuring accuracy and completeness of what they report as well as leading to greater comparability of financial statements.