Private Companies Get Delays on Leases, Revenue Accounting

Privately held companies will get an extra year to comply with sweeping new rules on how they add up liabilities from renting storefronts, heavy equipment, and vehicles, U.S. accounting rulemakers agreed Wednesday.

Instead of adopting new lease accounting rules in 2021, private companies and many not-for-profit groups can choose to wait until 2022, the Financial Accounting Standards Board unanimously voted. In addition, if a private company or not-for-profit group hasn’t yet adopted FASB’s major new revenue recognition accounting standard, it also could elect a one-year deferral.

“I have sympathy for what many of the companies are burdened with right now,” ...