IFRS 16 · Free study guide

IFRS 16: Leases

Leases touch almost every balance sheet — office space, equipment, vehicles, warehouses — which is part of why IFRS 16 is one of the most exam-heavy and practice-heavy standards in the IFRS set. It's the standard that moved lease accounting from the old "operating vs finance" split to a single on-balance-sheet model for lessees, and it's a regular source of confusion for students because the judgment calls (what counts as a lease, how to handle modifications, what discount rate to use) don't always have a clean textbook answer.

Students meet IFRS 16 in financial reporting courses and professional qualifications (ACCA, CPA, CIMA, ICAEW and equivalents). In practice, it shows up constantly in audit, financial reporting, and FP&A roles — any company with a real estate or equipment footprint has to apply it every reporting period.

On AccountingTutorAI, IFRS 16 has a full AI-tutored breakdown, exam-style practice questions with instant feedback, and an interactive decision tree that walks through the standard's key judgment points step by step. Sign up free to get started.

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Frequently asked questions

Is IFRS 16 hard to learn?

Most students find the concepts approachable but the application tricky — knowing the rules is different from applying them to a messy real-world lease. That's why practice questions matter more than memorizing definitions.

Do I need to know IFRS 16 for my accounting exams?

It appears in most major financial reporting syllabi (ACCA SBR/FR, ICAEW, CIMA, CPA and similar), usually as a guaranteed exam topic given how common leases are in real businesses.

What's the best way to practice IFRS 16 questions?

Working through varied scenarios — not just reading theory — is the fastest way to get comfortable with the standard's judgment calls.