It’s barely a surprise to know that accounting and especially lease accounting can take up a lot of manhours in terms of purely administrative work. It won’t create any added value, only consume time, but such tasks are unavoidable, meaning that your organization has to find a way to optimize and streamline ASC842 lease accounting. In this article, we’re going to focus exactly on that, and look at methods and ways to streamline day-to-day operations, related to ASC842 accounting.
Tip No.1 – Properly delegate
Modern businesses, compared to corporations and organizations of the past, face a much bigger issue when trying to properly delegate tasks. With much less emphasis on the hierarchal structure within organizations, people are doing much of the same tasks, less efficiently than they would in the past. The key to avoiding this is proper delegation which falls on the shoulders of senior accountants, CFO’s and higher management. Every accountant or 3rd party consultant must be aware of their duties and responsibilities. Implementing a task management software could be the best solution.
Tip No.2 – Have senior staff train newer employees
A key issue in accounting and almost all other departments struggling with productivity is the lack of communication between senior and junior level employees. With administrative tasks like lease management, there are a lot of smaller things to track like every fiscal transaction, calculate tax rates, look over deductibles, confirm payments, etc. For one person, managing an entire portfolio could be way too much. It’s highly recommended to have your senior staff spend a bit of time including junior accountants into day-to-day and sharing their responsibilities to make everything run smoother.
Tip No.3 – Make sure you’re using the best ASC842 software
Doing accounting for ASC842 leases is hard enough by itself. Without the proper software or even if you’re using barebones calculators (Excel), tracking large amounts of data and keeping a hands-on approach on every account is way too much to ask for. Software for managing ASC842 finance lease portfolio helps keep data in one place and is already made compliant with the current regulations. Generate US GAAP or other standard-ready reports with a single click instead of being stuck doing these things manually with a higher chance of human error.
Tip No.4 – Check for bottlenecks and eliminate them
Whether it’s poor communication, lackluster delegation or outdated legacy software, there are many areas of day-to-day accounting management where things could be improved. If something is a huge bother (e.g. reports are always late, lots of human error calculating, etc.), make sure to understand the reason behind the problem. There are usually three main areas which require fixing – interdepartmental communication, staff competence and technical. The first one refers to finding methods and ways for all parties within the organization to present and account for relevant, lease-related data on time. The second one (staff competence) relates to their understanding of processes of lease management and responsibilities whilst the last one is related to using legacy software which doesn’t meet your needs anymore.