Mastering lease accounting: Lessons from IFRS 16 & the FRS 102 transition

The Mastering Lease Accounting live broadcast, hosted by The CFO in partnership with MRI Software, brought together industry experts Gavin Maze and Richard Olney to unpack the forthcoming changes to FRS 102 and what they mean for UK finance teams.

With the January 2026 deadline approaching, the session focused on practical steps companies can take to prepare for the new lease accounting rules, particularly those drawing parallels with IFRS 16. 

The conversation covered critical topics including: 

• Why spreadsheets fall short for ongoing lease compliance and how purpose-built systems improve data integrity, version control, audit traceability, scalability, and compliance with evolving standards. 
• The importance of early impact assessments, complete lease registers, and cross-functional collaboration to reduce risk, identify hidden agreements, streamline internal workflows, prevent reporting delays, and increase accuracy across entities. 
• How AI-enabled tools can extract key data points from contracts, including lease terms, escalation clauses, payment schedules, discount rates, and renewal options, while also surfacing anomalies, validating assumptions, and supporting real-time compliance. 
• What finance leaders must do now – assess lease exposure, engage system vendors, allocate transition budgets, coordinate with legal and procurement, and build a long-term operating model for accurate, auditable lease reporting. 

The goal of the session was to share real-world lessons from IFRS 16 and give FRS 102-affected businesses a head start on planning, systems, and stakeholder alignment. 

Missed our live event? Watch the full discussion to learn how the right technology and planning can make your FRS 102 transition smoother and set your business up for long-term reporting success. 

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