AASB (Australian Accounting Standards Board) 16 Leases is going to affect leasing decisions in a big way. In a major change, from 1 January 2019, AASB 16 Leases will require tenants to recognise leases on balance sheet.
Tenants will also be required to assess the present value of their leases which will result in a higher ‘accounting costs’ (not cash cost) in the early years of a lease thus reducing the accounting profit in those years.
Implementing this new standard is likely to pose various financial and operational challenges. What does it mean if you’re a company with hundreds or thousands of leases?