Finance lease

A finance lease (also known as a capital lease or a sales lease) is a type of lease in which a finance company is typically the legal owner of the asset for the duration of the lease, while the lessee not only has operating control over the asset but also some share of the economic risks and returns from the change in the valuation of the underlying asset. More specifically, it is a commercial arrangement where: the lessee (customer or borrower) will select an asset (equipment, software); the lessor (finance company) will purchase that asset; the lessee will have use of that asset during the lease; the lessee will pay a series of rentals or installments for the use of that asset; the lessor will recover a large part or all of the cost of the asset plus earn interest from the rentals paid by the lessee; the lessee has the option to acquire ownership of the asset (e.g. paying the last rental, or bargain option purchase price). A finance lease has similar financial characteristics to hire purchase agreements and closed-end leasing as the usual outcome is that the lessee will become the owner of the asset at the end of the lease, but has different accounting treatments and tax implications. There may be tax benefits for the lessee to lease an asset rather than purchase it and this may be the motivation to obtain a finance lease. Since a finance lease is capitalized, both assets and liabilities in the balance sheet increase. As a consequence, working capital stays the same, but the debt/equity ratio increases, creating additional leverage. Finance lease expenses are allocated between interest expense and principal value much like a bond or loan; therefore, in a statement of cash flows, part of the lease payments are reported under operating cash flow but part under financing cash flow. Therefore, operating cash flow increases. Under operating lease conditions, lease obligations are not recognized; therefore, leverage ratios are understated and ratios of return (ROE and ROA) are overstated.