Briter Ltd, a carpet steam-cleaning business, needs to acquire new machinery. The accountant has suggested that the entity should lease the machinery rather than take out a loan to purchase it. When the owner inquired as to why this would be preferable, the accountant said it was because structuring the lease in a certain way would keep the financing 'off-balance-sheet'. Explain the concept of 'off-balance-sheet financing' and discuss why this would be the entity's preferred option. Discuss whether you think that leased assets and lease liabilities should appear on the balance sheet?