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Treatment of Fixed Investment and Software Investment in the Tankan after the Application of the New Accounting Standard for Lease Transactions

February 12, 2009
Research and Statistics Department
Bank of Japan

Under the new accounting standard for lease transactions (hereafter the new standard), which has been applied since the fiscal year beginning April 1, 2008,1 the accounting treatment for finance lease transactions that do not transfer ownership has been changed from rental transactions to sale and purchase transactions.

Accordingly, the Bank of Japan had announced in the previous statement2 that (1) from the March 2008 to the December 2008 Tankan (Short-Term Economic Survey of Enterprises in Japan), figures for fixed investment and software investment3 were compiled under the previous standard; and (2) from the March 2009 Tankan, those figures were compiled under both the previous and the new standards.

Details regarding the treatment of fixed investment and software investment effective from the March 2009 Tankan are as follows.

  1. The Accounting Standard for Lease Transactions (Accounting Standards Board of Japan [ASBJ] Statement No. 13) and the Guidance on Accounting Standard for Lease Transactions (ASBJ Guidance No. 16) released on March 30, 2007, by the ASBJ.
  2. See "Revision of the Tankan Survey Method due to the Change in the Accounting Treatment of Lease Transactions."
  3. Namely, "Fixed Investment including Land Purchasing Expenses," "Software Investment," and "Software and Fixed Investment excluding Land Purchasing Expenses."

1.  Figures Released in the Tankan

From the March 2009 Tankan to the June 2010 Tankan, "Fixed Investment including Land Purchasing Expenses," "Software Investment," and "Software and Fixed Investment excluding Land Purchasing Expenses" will be compiled under the previous standard and released as official figures.  As a result, there will be no discontinuity between the figures for fiscal 2008 and the previous figures.

During the same period, figures compiled under the new standard will also be released as reference data.

From the September 2010 Tankan, figures compiled under the new standard will be released as official figures.

2.  New Release Format of the Tankan

From the March 2009 Tankan to the June 2010 Tankan, the reference data for the above three items will be released on the first release day on pages 8 and 9 of "TANKAN Summary" (see the Appendix <MS-Excel 168KB>).  There will be no change in "TANKAN Outline."

As for "Comprehensive Data Set" released on the Bank's web site on the second release day, a few pages will be added in the annual projections section to show the reference data for the above three items.  There will be no change in "TANKAN: Figures by Industry."

From the September 2010 Tankan, the release of the above three items compiled under the previous standard will be discontinued, and figures compiled under the new standard will only be released as official figures.

From the March 2009 Tankan to the June 2010 Tankan, four subitems, namely, "Lease Assets (in Fixed Investment)," "Purchasing Expenses of Equipments for Lease," "Lease Assets (in Software Investment)," and "Purchasing Expenses of Software for Lease," will be added to convert the above three items compiled under the previous standard to the new standard.  Those four subitems will not be provided in "Comprehensive Data Set" but will be available in "BOJ Time-Series Data Search."

For further information, contact:

Business Survey
Research and Statistics Department
Bank of Japan

Email: post.rsd5@boj.or.jp