On May 5, LeaseQuery hosted another virtual LEASE summit, The GASB Series, during which accounting experts discussed the new GASB lease accounting standards, GASB 87 and GASB 96. At the free CPE event, speakers from LeaseQuery, MGO, The Pun Group, Cherry Bekaert, and Grant Thornton helped over 600 attendees learn critical information to prepare them for compliance, including similarities and differences between GASB 87 and GASB 96.
ICYMI: May 2022 GASB LEASE Summit Highlights
During the LEASE Summit – The GASB Series, accounting professionals discussed steps government entities can take to ensure a smooth transition to GASB 87 and GASB 96. Below, we have pulled important insights from the summit. For more in-depth information, check out the May 2022 LEASE Summit GASB Series Recap page.
Christian Fuellgraf – Principal, Government and Public Sector Industry Leader, Cherry Bekaert
“How do you start? At this point, time is really not on your side. There are a few things that you need to do in short order. Objectively look at where you are and recognize the time constraints you’re under. Have the right lead person from your side identified, and make sure they’re able to make decisions…you need to have the decision-making ability to do things quickly.”
“Really think about your lease inventory. Is it complete? Include embedded leases. That’s a place I’ve seen a lot of folks just aware of what they have to do or how to find them. Have the right control structure in place, to get ready for next year.”
“Becoming compliant with GASB 87, there are complexities to it. It’s not a particularly easy journey, but it’s not overwhelmingly hard, either. You have to have the right technical assistance, but it does take time. That’s somewhat the complexities of it. You have to keep it moving, you’ve got to get it started, and you’ve got to recognize where you may or may not need help.”
Amanda Payne – Senior Channel Enablement Lead, LeaseQuery
“You have a year to actually obtain your contracts, evaluate them, and assess whether or not it should be applicable under GASB 96 or whether it’s GASB 87. We’ve learned some of the nuances, but it might be helpful to do these simultaneously, just to save yourself some time.”
“The best practice that we’ve seen working with entities is that these run concurrently. When you’re evaluating your leases, obtaining contracts, and reaching out to departments asking them for those contracts so that your point person or team can evaluate them, go ahead and ask for that from the IT team, or other departments you know may have involvement with IT. Doing that together definitely will ensure you have an effective and efficient process as you’re adopting both of these standards that are within the year together.”
Lisa Harris, Financial Management – Manager, Grant Thorton
“When we’re talking about GASB 87, there are really two different ways to look at it. First, you have to get implemented. That means taking all of your leases and getting them ready, from where they are now, which are probably random places within the organization. You may know you have leases, but which leases you have, who is controlling them, all that information, you don’t have at your fingertips. Getting all that ready to go for implementation day is the first big hurdle. The second big hurdle is staying compliant into the future because the one thing you really don’t want is to go through this process every year. Hopefully, that’s a one-time item.”
Summary
Attendees of the LEASE Summit – The GASB Series received valuable advice on implementing GASB 87 and GASB 96 from industry experts. For more details about what was discussed at the event, check out the summit recap.
