WASHINGTON - TRALA formally submitted comments with the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in response to their Exposure Draft, Proposed Accounting Standards Update Leases Topic 840.

The comments submitted to the FASB, which you can view in their entirety by clicking here, make a strong case against some of the over-reaching elements of their proposal that could alter the way companies conduct financial accounting for leases.   

In the letter to the FASB, TRALA addresses concerns involving the following issues:

• Materiality and Complexity

• Form over Substance

• P&L and Balance Sheet Presentation

• Discount Rates

• Bundled Executory Contracts

• Lessor Accounting

TRALA has worked in cooperation with the FASB to attempt to develop fair accounting standards.  These efforts have included having FASB staff brief TRALA's Board of Directors in 2006, submitting a letter to the FASB in 2008 outlining the truck leasing industry, and submitting a comment letter to the Lease Project Discussion Paper in 2009.

Just last week TRALA joined with 35 organizations in writing a letter to the FASB asking that they delay their self-imposed deadline of June, 2011 so that they can engage more with the private sector on these concerns. 

TRALA President and CEO Thomas James commented on the filing saying, "TRALA appreciates the need for accuracy and transparency in lease accounting but the proposal set forward in the Exposure Draft creates unnecessary complexity and would result in standards that do not reflect the reality of lease transactions."

If you have any questions, please contact Jake Jacoby at jjacoby@trala.org or at (703) 299-9120.