14.1 Overview
Concerns about the lease presentation requirements in ASC 840, particularly
those for lessees, provided the impetus for the
issuance of ASC 842. Specifically, in developing
ASC 842, the FASB decided to remove the
classification disparity between operating leases
and capital leases, bring all leases onto the
balance sheet, and require lessees to recognize
lease assets and lease liabilities in the
statement of financial position. As indicated in
the summary portion of ASU 2016-02, the primary
objective of the new presentation requirements is
to increase financial statement transparency and
give users a more “complete and understandable
picture of an entity’s leasing activities.”
Below is a more detailed discussion of ASC 842’s financial statement presentation requirements for both lessees and lessors.