Lease accounting research and the G4+1 proposal

The Group of Four Plus One (G4+1) is a cooperative effort by national accounting standard setters from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US plus the International Accounting Standards Committee. Conclusions reached by the G4+1 are not recognized as GAAP in any financial reporting jurisdiction. However, by the very nature of its membership, its conclusions influence standard setting in many jurisdictions. Thus, publication of Leases: Implementation of a New Approach indicates that accountants may soon be redeliberating the appropriate accounting treatment for lease transactions. This commentary provides an overview of key results from prior research and proposes possible future research topics in the leasing area.