EY announced a strategic alliance with LeaseAccelerator and Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) to provide a transformational lease accounting and contract management service offering for organizations of all sizes. The alliance will also be activated in Germany with additional global expansion over time.

Combining EY teams’ experience and global footprint with LeaseAccelerator’s industry-leading lease accounting and lifecycle management software, the alliance provides organizations with a managed service capable of filling needs globally.

Organizations are beginning to move past the basic compliance needs for their IFRS 16 Leases, the recently updated lease accounting standard from the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), which changes how to account for leases in financial disclosures. Due to this transition, experienced and dedicated lease accounting and contract management services can help simplify the management of global lease portfolios and provide customer-defined outcomes.

 Financial executives in a variety of organizations should consider transitioning from manual, fractured and expensive workstreams to a highly automated and compliant lease accounting process. This upgraded approach provides accuracy and timeliness of lease data, consistent application of policies and transparency of critical lease terms. Transparency is key to unlocking the hidden potential in organizations’ leased assets – reducing costs, preserving cash, generating new free cash flow and increasing the flexibility of contractual obligations. Lease portfolio control and flexibility have never been more essential as businesses face new challenges and economic instability due to COVID-19 disruption and in the aftermath.

Michael Keeler, Chief Executive Officer, LeaseAccelerator, said: “In many organizations, leasing is a decentralized, cross-functional, manual and broken process lacking accountability, controls and experience. LeaseAccelerator has teamed up with EY professionals to address this problem by offering a new managed services option – an opportunity for financial leaders to refocus on their core mission by outsourcing the leasing lifecycle to a proven, trusted and truly global organization, while liberating professionals to transition to new, mission-impacting challenges. The EY integrated managed services offering is a healthy, long-term and affordable way forward where everyone wins.”

“Organizations demand modern software and improved processes to allocate time, resources and talent efficiently. Working closely with LeaseAccelerator, EY teams can now assist clients on that need to provide a broad, managed service offering,” said Stefan Pfeiffer, Partner, Financial Accounting Advisory Services, Ernst & Young GmbH. “Businesses of all sizes can leverage deep experience in lease accounting and contract management deployed on a SaaS platform designed to scale to their needs. EY teams can serve clients with transparency and flexibility to help them manage their lease portfolio and reframe their future in the new business reality during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.”