Firms Highlight High Cost of Landmark Lease Accounting Rules

The accounting overhaul that put leased real estate, airplanes, and equipment on corporate balance sheets strained businesses more than anticipated given headcount and software constraints, accountants told standard-setters.

“It’s definitely a cost I think above and beyond what a lot of our companies that we’ve worked with have expected,” said Blake Collins, a partner in technical accounting and IPO services at Connor Group.

Collins and other practitioners joined investors, analysts, and academics at a roundtable hosted by the Financial Accounting Standards Board in Norwalk, Conn., Friday to understand how the rules are working ...