A closer look at reporting IFRS 16 disclosures and your solutions

The FRC review highlighted that when explaining the impact of adopting IFRS 16 in their reports that many companies provided a good explanation. However, the review also highlighted that the quality of disclosures in future reporting requires improvement.

Key concerns raised in some instances included –

• Over-reliance on “boilerplate language” when setting out accounting policies for leases rather than specifics relating to the lessee’s actual circumstances.
• Inadequate explanations of judgements made by lessees in the application of the adopted accounting policy.
• An absence of the broader disclosures, such as detail on the nature of variable lease rentals or the potential impact on lease liabilities of the exercise of extension options. Too often disclosures required by paragraph 53, relating to amounts recognised for leases, were not in a single note or cross-referenced.

The report did recognise that this was “the first full year of application and that disclosures will continue to develop over time”.

Here we will look at best practice concerning policies, judgements and disclosure reporting under IFRS 16.

Compliance with IFRS 16 should result in companies making available enough relevant information in their annual reports and accounts to ensure interested parties can fully appreciate the effect of the new standard on the financials.

Presentation

“IAS 1.55 requires presentation of separate line items on the face of the balance sheet where such presentation is relevant for the reader’s understanding of the financial position (determined by reference to an item’s size, nature or function). “

Under IFRS 16 a lease is accounted for by -

• a right-of-use asset and associated lease liability
• the interest expense component of the lease liability
• a depreciation expense for the right-of-use asset

With the exception of investment property right-of-use assets (which are presented as investment property), the right-of-use asset and lease liability must be presented or disclosed separately from non-lease assets and liabilities. If a lessee chooses not to present its right-of-use assets separately on the face of the balance sheet, then the lessee must present them in the same line item that would be used if the underlying asset were owned.

Best practise would be to break down and itemise total lease payments into –

Accounting Policies

• Ensure that the accounting policy regarding any sale and leaseback transactions is fully explained describing both how they are treated both now in the year of their execution, making clear any material gain or loss.
• Explain fully why any “operating leases” are now considered outside of the scope of IFRS 16 because of either materiality or sizeable non-lease components.
• Set out policies under the new leases standard in terms of IFRS 16 rather than relying on previously used IAS 17 terminology.

Best practise would include a full description of a sale and leaseback transaction giving full details of the date, the actual assets, the cash proceeds, the gain or loss and the period of the lease.

Judgements

“IFRS 16 does not require additional disclosures about significant judgements on top of those contained in IAS 1. However, the judgements made or sources of estimation uncertainty in relation to leases may assume greater significance upon adoption of IFRS 16. IAS 1.122 requires disclosure of the judgements made that have the most significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements. IAS 1.125 requires additional disclosures in relation to judgements involving estimation uncertainty.”

Here best practice would include a full explanation of lease periods and why, where applicable, there were extension and break clauses in the lease. The lessee needs to explain the degree of certainty that an option will be taken up or otherwise and the judgements used to reach the decision – past behaviour and economic incentives such as penalty clauses, views on future rentals and leasehold improvements made by the lessee.

Disclosures

“The disclosure requirements for lessees in IFRS 16 include a disclosure objective (16.51), guidance on how this information should be presented (16.52, in a single note, or through cross-reference), specific information which is required to be disclosed (16.53), and guidance on the additional qualitative and quantitative information that may be required to meet the disclosure objective (16.59).”

The FRC report highlighted the failure of certain businesses to make clear and meaningful disclosures around the adoption of IFRS 16 positing that in following best practise a lessee should seek to ensure quantitive information is available in the form of –

• Explanation of gains or losses from sale and leaseback transactions
• The interest element of any lease liabilities
• The methodology of establishing the discount rate applicable to leases
• Expenses and outstanding commitments where the lessee has opted for expedients and exemptions around low value or short term leases.
• Depreciation charge and carrying amount of any right of use assets by class of underlying asset
• Cash outflow for leases

Best practise would include maturity analysis of all leases (in one year time bands), a comparison of current (IFRS 16) and prior (IAS 17) period results, the possible effect of future index or rate linked rental adjustments and future possible cashflows not included in lease liability which may arise due to extension options being exercised.

Your solution

At Quadrent, we provide our clients with software solutions designed to manage and report on leased assets. We work to deliver long-term cost-savings across your organisation and assist with all facets of equipment finance needs, from providing operating leases to asset management, IFRS 16 / AASB 16 compliance and reporting. Our world-leading LOIS solution is designed to assist in creating a robust process that effortlessly guides you in accounting for all leases to maintain compliance with IFRS 16 and uncover hidden ROI savings within Leasing.

Quadrent is Australasia's leading and most trusted equipment financier and lease portfolio software provider. We enable you to deliver your technology solution via a leasing structure, and manage and report on your lease & asset portfolio for compliance with IFRS 16. Find out more about our services.

LOIS provides you with a consolidated view of all leases within your business structure and full IFRS 16 compliance, whether it be one entity or a global corporate. LOIS refers to Quadrent’s Lease Optimization Information System, which is a fully integrated portfolio and asset management tool for all your IFRS16 lease accounting compliance. We operate it under a master agreement. Plus, we’re the only supplier in Australasia. Read more about LOIS.

If you're interested in understanding more about IFRS 16 Compliance and LOIS, here are a couple of resources we can provide:

• Read more about IFRS 16 considerations and COVID19. 
• Read about LOIS features and benefits and the clients that are already on board with us 
• Explore the pros and cons of using spreadsheet applications such as Excel for the transition to IFRS 16 with this short whitepaper (15 minute read).
• Let our recent survey results from LOIS customers demonstrate the value of the product (3 minute read)
• Understand the pros and cons of leasing business assets with our whitepaper (15 minute read).