Leases, Leases and more LISA’S: The Implementation of GASB 87

This course will be delivered on-site in CNMI.

Registration is open to insular government professionals.

This course is limited to public sector professional working for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands government.

A new GASB accounting standard has recently became effective that alters the historical landscape of how lease accounting has always been performed.  GASB 87 not only does away with the methodology of previous accounting for leases, but also introduces new concepts for what a lease is, and even more importantly what is not a lease, and also provides new guidance on how to determine the true “term” of a lease for accounting and financial reporting purposes.  In addition, the recognition of an intangible capital asset will now be required for most, if not all leases, along with the recognition of a lease obligation.  In addition, accounting and financial reporting for lessors is also included, introducing the new concept of a deferred inflow of resources for the lessor. Regardless of whether you are the lessee or the lessor in the lease transactions, the guidance in this standard will affect you.  Lastly, we will address audit issues that are being raised by the implementation of this standard.  By the end of this course, you will have everything you need for Lease Implementation Standards Acceptance (LISA).

What You Will Learn

After successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Ascertain the difference between contracts that meet the definition of a lease and by default, what contracts do not meet the definition of a lease and are therefore scoped out of GASB 87
• Understand the unique journal entries necessary for implementation and subsequent reporting whether you government is the lessee and the lessor
• Determine the proper term for a lease, using the concepts outlined within the standard
• Perform a case study walkthrough of a special excel tool that we will provide to help you with your implementation efforts
• Learn about the various audit issues that will arise due to the implementation of this standard

Who Should Attend

Both new and veteran accountants and auditors of governmental entities, agencies, autonomous organizations, or of any entity that follows GASB accounting standards in the external financial statement reporting.  Primarily, we are looking for accountants who will be responsible for the accounting of leases, and auditors who will be responsible for auditing whether that accounting has been done correctly. 

Health & Safety Protocols

For all on-site training in the insular areas, the Graduate School USA's Pacific and Virgin Islands Training Initiatives (PITI-VITI) works closely with local training hosts to ensure that participants, instructors, and training support staff enjoy a safe learning experience. Please note the following:

• Full details of PITI-VITI's health and safety guidelines are available here.
• Local health and safety guidelines for the government of CNMI, which will be hosting this training, is available at https://chcc.gov.mp/.
• Please contact PITI-VITI Admin at [email protected] with any questions or concerns.

Tuition Fees

With funding support from the United States Department of the Interior, Office of Insular Affairs, courses are available free of charge for government accountability professionals within the insular areas. The course fee is waived and there is no cost to register and attend, Professionals who do not meet the above criteria, please contact [email protected].