Leases, Leases and More: The Implementation of GASB Statements 87, 94 and 96

Several new GASB accounting standards have recently became effective that alter the historical landscape of how lease accounting has always been performed (GASBs 87 and 96).  In addition, a new GASB accounting standard has also been issued related to the accounting and financial reporting of public-private and public-public partnerships (GASB 94).  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.  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. 

In addition, GASB 96 is basically the lease standard for Subscription-Based Information Technology Arrangements, and although similar to GASB 87, there are some unique differences that we will address.  As mentioned above, GASB 94, commonly referred to as the P3 standard, is relatively “lease-like” but contains enough differences from a true leasing arrangement that the GASB felt it important to carve out the issues related to these such agreements.  Lastly, we will address audit issues that are being raised by the implementation of these standards.  By the end of this course, you may be very tired of hearing the word “leases”, but you will leave the course with a fresh understanding of the implementation efforts needed to implement these new standards successfully.

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 for GASB 87/96 purposes or a P3, and by default, what contracts do not meet the definition of a lease and/or a P3 and are therefore scoped out of GASB 87, GASB 96, and GASB 94
• Understand the unique journal entries necessary for implementation and subsequent reporting whether you government is the lessee and the lessor under GASB 87, the end user of IT related software under GASB 96, or one of the parties in a public-private or public-public partnership
• Determine the proper term for a lease, using the concepts outlined within the standards
• 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 these standards

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 similar arrangements and auditors who will be responsible for auditing whether that accounting has been done correctly. 

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].