Across the US, businesses are selecting the best lease accounting software to meet compliance requirements and ongoing business operations. FASB states “early action is key” to successful lease accounting compliance, and encourages companies waste no time when it comes to selecting software and beginning implementation. However, it is a complex purchasing decision. Pricing, feature sets and implementation strategies can vary widely between vendors.

Here are 10 essential questions to use as a guide when assessing lease accounting software solutions:

1. Can your solution produce standard accounting reports and customers ad hoc reports?

2. Does your system provide audit trails and tracking of all data changes?

3. Is your software officially recommended by any notable accounting firms?

4. Is your platform backed by a financially stable organization for long-term data management?

5. Is your platform battle-tested and proven, with a minimum of five years of FASB and IASB compliant functionality?

6. Can your system manage and report on real estate, equipment and other leased assets?

7. Is your software delivered in a cloud-based SaaS (software as a service) format?

8. Will software updates and future versions be provided free of additional upgrade costs?

9. Does your platform complete an annual SAAE 16 audit for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance?

10. Does your system readily integrate with existing ERP and IWMS systems? It’s also important to note that implementation takes considerable resources, and the HR impact also needs to be considered early in the process during the software selection phase. New software implementation represents a huge scope of work. Typical solutions include temporarily assigning employees exclusively to project implementation, or commitment to hire additional outside resources. Experienced consultants can be a valuable resource to ensure on-time and on-budget completion of software implementations, eliminating the common challenges often faced by organizations adopting new technology such as lack of internal resources, missed deadlines, and tight budgets.

Learn more about how CoStar’s lease accounting software can provide answers.