Crash Course in Accounting and Financial Statement Analysis, Second Edition
by Matan Feldman, Arkady Libman
Capital Leases
Capital leases represent long-term liabilities defined as contractual agreements, allowing a company to lease PP&E for a certain period of time in exchange for regular payments. Common leases involve cars and office/residential space.[2]
[2] See Appendix for further discussion of capital and operating leases.
Under a capital lease agreement, the company is leasing the equipment, capital leases are treated as a purchase of PP&E on the balance sheet, and doesn’t actually own the associated PPE because these agreements to transfer are considered virtual ownership for U.S. GAAP purposes.
Equipment is depreciated over its estimated useful life (asset side of balance sheet).
Lease payments are treated as debt obligations (liability).
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