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Proposals to Change Lease Accounting: Evidence from Canada and Malaysia

Leasing transactions are significant in business activities and both national and international accounting regulations require leases to be classified as either operating or finance leases. The International Accounting Standards Board recently proposed for the present classification to be removed, and for both finance and operating leases to appear on the balance sheet. This paper compares the opinions of 63 qualified accountants in Canada and 54 qualified accountants in Malaysia on the present regulations and the implications of the new standard. The responses from these countries support the substance-over-form model, but raise doubts on its applicability to leasing transactions. The majority of respondents agree on one method for accounting for leases, but support for the removal of finance and operating lease classifications is weaker. An analysis of the data reveals that those who believe the current information is of use are more likely to reject the proposed changes. This suggests that future research should be less concerned with whether users find the information relevant and should be directed towards the nature of user decisions and how the present information is utilised.