As the IASB-FASB joint international working group began its study of lease accounting in late 2006 and early 2007, it had a number of staff documents prepared to help observers at their meetings follow the working group’s discussions. These documents are available on the IASB website (www.iasb.org) by following the “Projects” link for “Leases.” They cover a wealth of information, including the results of prior academic research on lease accounting and its potential implications for the lease accounting project. Obtain the Information for Observers document for the February 15, 2007 and March 22, 2007 meetings of the IASB-FASB joint committee that deals with academic research on lease accounting. Alternatively, research and read up on the academic accounting literature on lease accounting.
Instructions
(a) Summarize the issues that have been addressed by academic research on lease accounting.
(b) In general, what were the findings of this research on each issue?
(c) Identify what the implications are of the research findings for the development of new accounting standards for leases.