Planning for Lease Accounting Compliance – A 12 Step Guide for Successful Project Management
After being discussed for the better part of a decade, the new FASB and IASB lease accounting...
As private companies race to comply with new lease accounting standards by FASB and IASB, an end-to-end solution has been made possible from the strategic alliance of CoStar Real Estate Manager, a division of CoStar Group, Inc. and BDO USA, LLP.
The new standards must be implemented by year-end and require companies to recognize practically all obligations for real estate, equipment and other leased assets on their balance sheets. The combined alliance brings together the expertise of industry veterans CoStar, a leading lease management software provider, and BDO USA, one of the nation’s leading accounting and consulting organizations.
“To date, many companies are still faced with the challenge of complying with the new lease accounting rules,” said Mike Stevenson, National Assurance Partner at BDO USA. “Together with CoStar, we provide an end-to-end solution that make it less burdensome for companies to meet the compliance deadlines.”
This shift in accounting policy will affect businesses in numerous industries, especially those in the consumer products, restaurant, retail, financial services, utilities and oil & gas.
“By taking a proactive approach to the new standards, all businesses can mitigate financial reporting issues and negative consequences for errors and restatements,” said Andy Thomas, President of the CoStar Real Estate Manager division. “CoStar’s proven Lease Manager software provides the complete functionality needed to manage and report on real estate, equipment and other leased assets. And by serving as trusted advisors, BDO professionals provide the experience and insights that clients need, a great complement to our lease accounting software.” CoStar’s Lease Manager software is delivered in a software-as-a-service (SaaS) format and offers out-of-the-box functionality that includes balance sheet impact, classification tests, amortization schedules, journal entry processing and GL system integration. To ensure compliance with Sarbanes Oxley’s requirement to demonstrate effective internal controls and procedures for financial reporting, CoStar’s platform completes an SSAE 18 audit annually.
