Where to Find Leases: 15 Places to Find Lease Agreements

Getting compliant with lease accounting standards often means starting with a scavenger hunt. Whether your organization reports under ASC 842, IFRS 16, or both, the challenge is the same: figuring out how many leases you have and where they live across your organization.

Equipment and property leases can be scattered across business units, geographies, and systems. With the global expansion of IFRS 16 — which has been mandatory for listed companies worldwide since January 2019 — finance teams in Europe and beyond face the same inventory challenge as their US counterparts under ASC 842. And now, with more organizations operating across borders, the scavenger hunt has expanded to include regional real estate, local equipment lessors, and embedded leases buried in outsourcing and technology contracts.

Below is a list of the top 15 places where you can generally find your company's lease agreements — applicable whether you are working toward compliance in the US, Europe, or any other jurisdiction where IFRS 16 applies.

1.) Procurement and Sourcing System

One of the first places to check is your organization's procurement or sourcing system. These systems are where information about new suppliers and contracts is typically entered and tracked. Leases for buildings, vehicles, computers, and other asset types are often found here. In most cases, the procurement system will identify the lessor name and asset description, as well as the business unit and stakeholder who originally requested the lease.

For organizations with European or global operations, procurement systems may be configured differently by region. Check whether regional procurement teams maintain separate records — subsidiaries in Germany, France, the UK, or the Nordic countries may have independent sourcing workflows.

2.) Contract Management System

Your organization's contract management system often acts as a repository for customer and vendor agreements. In many cases, the original lease agreement is uploaded when it is executed, and the system tracks every stage of the lifecycle from authoring and negotiation to expiration and renewal. Chances are good that many of your master lease agreements and schedules are housed here.

The contract management system should also contain information about amendments or modifications made to the lease over time. Ask the legal team to run a report of all relevant contracts — and don't just search for the word "lease." You will need to examine outsourcing and service contracts as well for possible embedded leases. This is particularly important under IFRS 16, which applies a broader definition of what constitutes a lease than the old IAS 17 standard.

3.) Accounts Payable System

Your accounts payable system is another productive starting point. Many operating leases result in regular vendor payments, and running a report of all vendor invoices over the past year or more — filtered by potential lessor names — can surface lease obligations that haven't been formally catalogued elsewhere.

Cross-check these payments against your other records to identify any missing lease agreements. For international operations, be aware that payments may be processed through regional accounts payable teams or shared service centers, which may maintain separate AP records.

4.) Financial Reporting Spreadsheets

If your organization files financial statements with a regulator — the SEC in the US, Companies House in the UK, or the relevant national securities authority in Europe — some lease information is likely already documented in those filings. In US GAAP filings, look for operating lease disclosures in footnotes to Forms 10-K and 10-Q. IFRS reporters will find similar disclosures in annual reports and interim statements required under IFRS 16.

Reviewing these documents can help you confirm which locations are leased, from which landlords, and under what general terms — a useful cross-check against your other sources.

5.) Corporate Treasury and Tax Filings

Corporate treasury and tax filings often include footnote disclosures about material leases. These can provide insights into how your company has historically classified leases and which assets are considered significant obligations. For global organizations, local tax filings in European jurisdictions may also reflect property lease commitments in ways that surface agreements not captured in your central systems.

In European reporting, statutory accounts filed with national registries (such as the Bundesanzeiger in Germany, the Registre du Commerce in France, or Companies House in the UK) may contain lease disclosures that help you identify agreements for local entities.

6.) Lease Administration Team Files

If your organization has a dedicated lease administration team, they will likely maintain their own files and records covering the terms of leases, renewal options, and landlord contact information. This team may also track which leases are approaching renewal — valuable intelligence when negotiating extensions or evaluating whether to exercise purchase options.

For global organizations, lease administration responsibilities may be split between a central team and regional counterparts. Make sure to include both when conducting your inventory.

7.) IT Asset Management System

Many leases for technology equipment are tracked in the IT asset management system, particularly where assets are maintained and serviced under agreements that classify the arrangement as an operating lease. Running a report of all assets filtered by lease agreement start date can reveal a significant population of equipment leases that may not have been centrally documented.

Note that, under both ASC 842 and IFRS 16, pure cloud-based SaaS arrangements (where no identifiable physical asset is controlled by the lessee) generally do not qualify as leases. However, arrangements that include dedicated hardware, data center space, or other identifiable assets may contain embedded leases. Coordinate with your IT team to review technology contracts carefully.

8.) IT Outsourcing Providers

If your organization outsources IT functions to an external provider, some of your lease obligations may be embedded in those contracts. Large IT outsourcing firms can assume day-to-day responsibility for everything from end-user devices and email systems to ERP applications and data center infrastructure. The hardware and facility assets they operate on your behalf may constitute embedded leases under ASC 842 or IFRS 16 — even though the assets are owned by the outsourcing provider.

Review your organization's contracts with IT outsourcing providers carefully. This is an area where legal and accounting judgment are both required, and it has received increasing scrutiny in IFRS 16 audits across Europe.

9.) Fleet Management Systems

Organizations with large vehicle fleets often invest in dedicated fleet management systems that track identification numbers, driver assignments, and service histories for each vehicle. If your organization leases vehicles — from delivery trucks to company cars — there is a good chance this information is maintained in the fleet management system.

Run a report of all vehicles filtered by lease agreement start date. For European operations, vehicle leasing (including both operating and finance leases) is among the most common lease types tracked under IFRS 16, and lease terms and residual value structures can differ significantly from North American markets.

10.) Real Estate Administration Systems

Most large companies and many mid-sized organizations have established centralized corporate real estate teams responsible for lease administration, space planning, and construction management. These teams often maintain their own real estate administration systems tracking information like square footage, occupant counts, and lease terms for each property.

For organizations with a footprint in Europe, real estate systems may include properties leased under local civil law frameworks that differ from US practice — including long-term ground leases, perpetual usufruct rights (common in Poland and other Central European markets), and emphyteusis arrangements. These obligations fall within the scope of IFRS 16 even if the structure is unfamiliar to a US-based accounting team.

11.) Property Management and Commercial Real Estate Firms

If your organization leases office space, industrial facilities, or retail locations, the landlord is often a property management company or a commercial real estate firm managing properties on behalf of their owners. These organizations typically handle lease administration, tenant relations, and maintenance.

Review your contracts with property management companies and commercial real estate firms, and contact them directly to ensure you have their most current documentation. In Europe, multinational real estate firms such as CBRE, JLL, Savills, and Cushman & Wakefield are common landlords or managing agents for large corporate occupiers. Local property managers are common for smaller regional locations.

12.) Real Estate Building Owners and Landlords

Real estate building owners and landlords are a direct source for obtaining your property leases. Use the landlord names collected from lease administration, accounts payable, procurement, or other systems to identify all lessors — then contact them to request their latest documentation.

Even if you believe you have copies of your leases, we recommend contacting landlords to confirm you have the most current versions. Additional schedules or amendments may have been signed that include updated base and variable rents, renewal clauses, and expansion options. Having complete, current data is critical to accurate accounting under both ASC 842 and IFRS 16.

13.) Equipment Leasing Companies

Organizations often lease equipment from specialized financing companies, including commercial banks, vendor captives, and independent leasing companies. This can include vehicles, IT infrastructure, machinery, and production line components. In many organizations, the list of equipment lessors is significantly longer than the list of real estate lessors.

Request copies of all leases from your equipment leasing companies to ensure you have accurate payment schedules, end-of-term options, and residual values. In Europe, the equipment leasing market is governed by national regulations as well as IFRS 16, and lease structures — particularly for vehicles and industrial machinery — may include residual value guarantees and purchase options that require careful accounting treatment.

14.) Finance & BPO Accounting Provider

If your organization outsources finance and accounting activities, the provider may be maintaining your lease records. This is often the case for organizations that have established shared service centers or business process outsourcing (BPO) arrangements. The provider may be a Big 4 accounting firm, a global BPO provider, or a smaller regional specialist.

Review your contracts with finance and accounting providers. These contracts should contain information about the services being performed and the locations of the leased assets. Request copies of all relevant lease documentation from the provider, including any subleases. For European operations managed by a BPO, confirm that the provider is capturing leases under local statutory requirements in addition to group-level IFRS 16 compliance.

15.) Corporate IT

Your organization's IT department manages contracts for software, cloud services, and telecommunications equipment that may contain lease components. Beyond reaching out to the owners of business applications such as real estate, fleet, and accounts payable systems, contact the corporate IT organization directly to review its full contract portfolio.

As noted in item 7, pure SaaS arrangements are generally excluded from lease accounting under ASC 842 and may or may not qualify as leases under IFRS 16, depending on whether an identified asset is present. However, dedicated server hosting agreements, network infrastructure contracts, and co-location arrangements deserve scrutiny. The line between a service contract and a lease can be subtle — coordinate with your auditors if there is any uncertainty.

Other Considerations

In addition to the 15 sources above, organizations expanding into or operating in Europe should keep several additional factors in mind.

ASC 842 vs. IFRS 16: Both standards require most leases to be recognized on the balance sheet as right-of-use assets and lease liabilities. The core inventory challenge is the same, but there are differences in how leases are classified and measured. Organizations reporting under both standards — for example, a US-listed company with European subsidiaries — will need lease data that supports dual reporting.

National statutory filings: In Europe, local entities are often required to file statutory accounts with national registries. These filings may disclose lease commitments that are not visible in your central systems. Countries such as Germany, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the UK each have their own filing requirements and registries.

Embedded leases in service contracts: Both ASC 842 and IFRS 16 require organizations to assess service contracts for embedded leases — cases where the contract gives the lessee the right to control the use of an identified asset for a period of time. This is particularly relevant for outsourcing arrangements, supply agreements, and dedicated facility contracts. The assessment requires judgment and should involve both the legal and accounting teams.

Mergers, acquisitions, and restructuring: If your organization has grown through acquisition, acquired entities may bring lease portfolios that were documented under different systems, standards, or naming conventions. A dedicated integration review is essential to ensure all acquired leases are captured.

Centralizing Your Lease Portfolio With the Right Software

Once you've pulled all your leases together, the next step is setting up a process to stay in ongoing contact with the business units, teams, and external parties that originate new leases — so your portfolio stays current over time.

Choose lease accounting software that centralizes and automates the work, supports both ASC 842 and IFRS 16, and scales with your organization as it grows globally. With a complete lease inventory in hand, your accounting team will have greater confidence in the accuracy and completeness of your reported lease obligations — and a much smoother path through audit season.