It is widely believed that current international and national standards are abused particularly in classifying leases as "operating" thus removing the asset and the liability from the balance sheet. Currently, the IASB and FASB have a project on lease which is expected to provide a new standard in 2011.
This paper contributes to the debate on accounting for leases by analyzing and discussing the responses of 63 qualified accountants working in Canada and 54 in Malaysia. All of these respondents claimed to be familiar with the current standards and knowledgeable on the current discussions taking place at the international level.
The majority of respondents believed that there are abuses of the current standard. One significant aspect raised was the complexity of lease agreements with most respondents agreeing that, in practice, there are difficulties in distinguishing between operating and financing leases. This was particularly so with the Malaysian respondents. An analysis of the results suggested that the length of work experience in Malaysia may contribute to different responses but further research is required to validate this finding.
In view of the contribution of the findings to the debate on lease accounting further research in this area should prove fruiful. A neglected area in opinion surveys on the subject has been the characteristics or attributes of the respondent Emphasis has been on investigation and determining the influence of role e.g. preparer, user on opinions. There may be other factors that have greater, or at least a contributory influence on opinions. More rigorous investigations into the factors potentially influencing the opinions of the respondents may better help us to understand the process of standard setting, the dynamics of the transition to new standards and the issues of non compliance.
It is widely believed that current international and national standards are abused particularly in classifying leases as "operating" thus removing the asset and the liability from the balance sheet. Currently, the IASB and FASB have a project on lease which is expected to provide a new standard in 2011.
This paper contributes to the debate on accounting for leases by analyzing and discussing the responses of 63 qualified accountants working in Canada and 54 in Malaysia. All of these respondents claimed to be familiar with the current standards and knowledgeable on the current discussions taking place at the international level.
The majority of respondents believed that there are abuses of the current standard. One significant aspect raised was the complexity of lease agreements with most respondents agreeing that, in practice, there are difficulties in distinguishing between operating and financing leases. This was particularly so with the Malaysian respondents. An analysis of the results suggested that the length of work experience in Malaysia may contribute to different responses but further research is required to validate this finding.
In view of the contribution of the findings to the debate on lease accounting further research in this area should prove fruiful. A neglected area in opinion surveys on the subject has been the characteristics or attributes of the respondent Emphasis has been on investigation and determining the influence of role e.g. preparer, user on opinions. There may be other factors that have greater, or at least a contributory influence on opinions. More rigorous investigations into the factors potentially influencing the opinions of the respondents may better help us to understand the process of standard setting, the dynamics of the transition to new standards and the issues of non compliance.
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