The adoption of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board Lease standard will have a significant impact on public power entities. Although the adoption date has been delayed until the fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2021, public power entities still face a large workload in designing policy and controls over the identification, valuation and disclosure of their leases.
For lessees, a key provision includes requiring all leases to be recorded on lessees’ balance sheets. It eliminates all distinctions between operating and capital leases. Additionally, the GASB developed a unique model for lessors that differs significantly from both the FASB and IASB approaches.