Although the Monitor and monitordaily provide important and timely information regarding the impact of the impending lease accounting changes on lessors, most outside reports generally have given more attention to lessees.

However, a recent article in Accounting Horizons examines key reporting and disclosure issues associated with lessors and suggests improvements that could be incorporated into lease accounting guidance. The study uses information garnered from the 2008 Monitor 100 in its analysis of 57 of the 100 largest equipment lessors in the U.S. market.

The article, “Issues in Lessor Accounting: The Forgotten Half of Lease Accounting, Accounting Horizons 25(2), 247 (2011) by Mark P. Bauman and Richard N. Francis, examines disclosure quality, residual values and the balance sheet impact of the proposal and offers numerous suggestions to enhance the usefulness of lessor financial statement disclosures for decision makers.

To read a synopsis of the article or purchase a PDF of the full report click here.