Types of lease contracts

Question

What are the types of lease contracts which are seen in practice?

Answer 1

Many types of lease contracts are seen in practice, some of popular ones are as follows:

Financial Lease: This type of lease contract extends over the whole useful life of an asset and it cannot be cancelled before the lease period expires. The legal ownership of the asset is although not transferred. In these types of lease the duration of the lease contract is almost equal to the useful life of the asset. Thus the whole investment is recovered by the lesser. In a Finance Lease the lessee may be given an option to purchase the asset at the expiration of the Lease period. In financial lease, the maintenance and other related expenses are normally borne by the lessee as well as the risk of obsolescence. The asset given on lease to lessee is of specialised nature and can only be used by the lessee without major modification.

Operating Lease: This type of lease is such in which the asset is leased for a short period. In an operating lease the contract is cancellable during the term of lease. The period of lease in such types of leases is shorter than the asset’s economic life. In other words, an operating lease is not a Finance Lease. In this type of lease a single lease covers a period which is shorter than the useful life of the asset and therefore the original cost of the asset cannot be recovered in a single lease. Here the risk of obsolescence remains with the lesser and he is also responsible for the insurance and other expenses. Since the period of the lease is shorter therefore the lease rentals will be greater. Such types of leases are preferred when the asset is likely to become obsolete within a short period.

The suitable lease option would be financing lease for Paulo’s restaurant since Paulo would be using the assets for a rather long period and also the assets are not prone to become obsolete within a short period.