Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 13

INTRODUCTION
This Statement establishes standards of financial accounting and reporting for leases by lessees and
lessors. For purposes of this Statement, a lease is defined as an agreement conveying the right to use property,
plant, or equipment (land and/or depreciable assets) usually for a stated period of time. It includes agreements
that, although not nominally identified as leases, meet the above definition, such as a «heat supply contract» for
nuclear fuel.1 This definition does not include agreements that are contracts for services that do not transfer the
right to use property, plant, or equipment from one contracting party to the other. On the other hand,
agreements that do transfer the right to use property, plant, or equipment meet the definition of a lease for
purposes of this Statement even though substantial services by the contractor (lessor) may be called for in
connection with the operation or maintenance of such assets. This Statement does not apply to lease agreements
concerning the rights to explore for or to exploit natural resources such as oil, gas, minerals, and timber. Nor
does it apply to licensing agreements for items such as motion picture films, plays, manuscripts, patents, and
copyrights.
This Statement supersedes APB Opinion No. 5, «Reporting of Leases in Financial Statements of Lessee»;
APB Opinion No. 7, «Accounting for Leases in Financial Statements of Lessors»; paragraph 15 of APB Opinion
No. 18, «The Equity Method of Accounting for Investments in Common Stock»; APB Opinion No. 27,
«Accounting for Lease Transactions by Manufacturer or Dealer Lessors»; and APB Opinion No. 31, «Disclosure
of Lease Commitments by Lessees.»
This Statement applies to regulated enterprises in accordance with the provisions of the Addendum to APB
Opinion No. 2, «Accounting for the ‘Investment Credit’.»
Appendix A provides background information. Appendix B sets forth the basis for the Board’s
conclusions, including alternatives considered and reasons for accepting some and rejecting others. Illustrations
of the accounting and disclosure requirements for lessees and lessors called for by this Statement are contained
in Appendixes C and D. An example of the application of the accounting and disclosure provisions for
leveraged leases is provided in Appendix E.