Standard release schedule update

The IASB has updated their project schedule with a target date for release of the new lease accounting standard: sometime in the second half of 2015. (The FASB's Current Technical Plan page has had a gee-whiz makeover that looks snazzy but provides no useful information about dates.)


At the December joint board meeting, the boards decided not to include in the definition of a lease that the lessee "must have the ability to derive the benefits from directing the use of an identified asset." So the definition remains “a contract that conveys the right to use an asset (the underlying asset) for a period of time in exchange for consideration,” with the requirement that the asset be implicitly or explicitly identified (rather than simply the use of one of an ever-changing pool of assets, which is considered a service contract rather than a lease).


No board deliberations on leases are scheduled for this month.