Write Over Line Lease For Free

Under U.S. GAAP, rent in a company's financial statements should be recorded on a straight-line basis. To calculate monthly rent expense on a straight-line basis, you must first calculate the total cash paid for rent over the entire lease life and then divide by the number of months (i.e. 4 years = 48 months).

However, to calculate straight-line rent expense, you simply add up total cash rent paid and divide by the lease term in months. For example, if rent is $50,000 total for a 5 year lease and the first year is free, then you would pay the $50,000 over 4 years at $12,500 per month.

Under ASC 840, the lease start date for accounting purposes is the date possession is passed from the landlord to the tenant. On that date, the lessee, or tenant, should begin recording straight-line rent expense even if that date is earlier than the ?commencement date? specified in the lease.

Lease Expense means, for any period, the aggregate amount of fixed and contingent rentals paid or payable by the Borrowers and their Subsidiaries with respect to leases of real and personal property (excluding Capitalized Lease Obligations) determined on a consolidated basis in ance with GAAP for such period.

Calculating the straight-line expense of an asset is incredibly straightforward. You just take the total amount of lease payments and divide it by the number of months of the lease term.

The straight-line concept is based on the idea that the usage of the rental arrangement is on a consistent basis over time; that is, the rented asset is used at about the same rate from month to month. To calculate straight-line rent, aggregate the total cost of all rent payments, and divide by the total contract term.

Straight line basis is also applied in operating leases, where it is used to calculate the amount of rental payments due under a lease agreement. The payments will be equal for each period until the end of the lease..

Since the lessee does not assume the risk of ownership, the lease expense is treated as an operating expense in the income statement and the lease does not affect the balance sheet. In a capital lease, the lessee assumes some of the risks of ownership and enjoys some of the benefits.