The standards that govern financial reporting and accounting vary from country to country, but most of them are based on the leading standards such as FASB and IFRS. In the United States, financial reporting practices are set forth by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, and organized within the framework of the generally accepted accounting principles, for example US-GAAP. Outside the US, more than 100 countries have adopted the international financial reporting standards, or IFRS, which aim to establish a common global language for company accounting affairs.

Both standards have a chapter on accounting real estate and asset leases. In FASB that chapter is ASC840/842, in IFRS it is IAS17/IFRS 16.

Lease accounting standards are implemented to support compliance of lease calculations based on FASB and IFRS. Contracts can be classified as operating lease or finance lease from both the perspective of lessee and lessor. According to contract, cash flow (financial commitments), P&L related costs, liability and right of use (accounting commitments) are calculated and reported in a compliant way.