Or they will insist on shorter lease terms, which will help keep the capitalised value of the lease smaller.

ECONOMIST: Commercial property

Unlike the British, American companies already disclose the capitalised value of their operating leases in the notes to their accounts, for all who care to dig that deeply.

ECONOMIST: Commercial property

Although the details vary from country to country, a widely used rule-of-thumb says that a lease does not have to be capitalised so long as the net present value of the lease liabilities (ie, future rents) amounts to less than 90% of the value of the asset.

ECONOMIST: Commercial property