New lease accounting standard: Problems and prospects

Aim. The work aimed to establish the presence or absence in the expert community of approaches to solving the difficulties of applying the Federal Accounting Standard (FAS) 25/2018, that are identified in practice, shared by all or most experts. Objectives. The work seeks to systematize the main problems of applying the FAS 25/2018 standard by business entities. Methods. The study employed general economic analysis, taking into account the specifics of accounting activities. The authors studied Russian regulatory documentation, international financial reporting standards, as well as scientific research, analytical reviews, and shorthand records of expert discussions of the possibility of improving lease accounting, including the analysis of statistical materials in the research issue context. Results. The work presents a systematized description of problem aspects of applying FAS 25/2018, demonstrating clearly the fact that positive application of FAS 25/2018 has not developed, and there are no unified (agreed) approaches to solving the difficulties of applying FAS 25/2018 that are identified in practice. Conclusions. The study results obtained confirm that the application of the current version of FAS 25/2018 cannot ensure the quality and efficiency of business management to the proper extent. In this regard, it seems appropriate to recommend that interested entities initiate an analysis of the FAS 25/2018 provisions in order to 1) assess the clarity and certainty of these provisions and conceptual framework; 2) comply with the current statutory provisions of the Russian Federation (RF) and the admissibility of their application in the part that does not contradict the provisions of the current legislation of the Russian Federation; 3) provide the effectiveness of their application to achieve the main objectives of the standard adoption.