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ASC 842 Lease Schedule Template

Two documents and four sheets: every lease's reasonably certain call written down before the right-of-use asset and liability schedules get built.

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What you get

Pack of 6 files: 2 documents, 4 spreadsheets

ASC 842 Lease Schedule Template
  • Lease PolicyDocument
  • Judgement NotesDocument
  • Lease RegisterSpreadsheet
  • Right-of-Use Asset RollforwardSpreadsheet
  • Liability AmortizationSpreadsheet
  • Disclosure SummarySpreadsheet
RiverASC 842 Lease Schedule Template

Lease Register

[Company] — every signed lease, extracted

Term Used is the concluded reasonably certain term from Judgement Notes, not the bare noncancelable period off the signature page. Nothing here is typed in from memory.

RefAssetClassificationTerm UsedDiscount RateLiability at Commencement
——————
——————
——————
——————

Term Used only fills in once the reasonably certain call is written down in Judgement Notes, against the four factor categories the standard actually asks for.

Halloway Diagnostics leases its headquarters on a five-year noncancelable term with a five-year renewal option, and the renewal is reasonably certain only because a $45,000.00 tenant improvement allowance amortizes into it and no comparable lab space exists nearby. A schedule built on the bare noncancelable term prices the liability at $486,550.84. The concluded term, 120 months, prices it at $894,446.94, a $407,896.10 gap from one document read to the end. ASC 842-10-55-26 weighs contract, asset, market and entity factors together before that threshold is met.

The warehouse lease escalates on the regional CPI. ASC 842 measures that payment at the index's spot value on the commencement date and never a forecast, so the schedule holds $14,500.00 flat rather than projecting it forward. Project it forward at an assumed 3.2 percent instead and the liability overstates by $14,477.91 against a correct $469,603.73. The lab equipment lease carries a $500.00 purchase option nominal against the equipment's value, reasonably certain on its own under the same factors, which is what makes this specific lease a finance lease rather than an operating one.

The two schedules diverge from there. An operating lease's single lease cost is fixed for the term, and the right-of-use asset absorbs whatever that cost leaves after interest; a finance lease's asset amortizes on its own straight-line schedule instead. The two only produce the same number when rent never escalates, which is the one case a flat-rent example can never test. Total 2026 lease cost across all four leases comes to $328,003.45, disclosed with the same evidence-first discipline the software capitalization memo and the equity compensation pack apply to their own dated documents.

Four leases, one register, and the schedule each classification actually uses

Lease Register, Judgement Notes, Liability and ROU Activity, and Disclosure Summary.

ASC 842 Lease Schedule Template
RiverLease Register

Lease Register

Halloway Diagnostics, Inc., an illustrative robotics and diagnostics company. Term Used is the concluded reasonably certain term, not the bare noncancelable period.

RefAssetClassificationNoncancelableTerm UsedRateLiability at CommencementROU at Commencement
LS-01HQ Office & LabOperating60 mo120 mo6.50%894,446.94863,446.94
LS-02Distribution WarehouseOperating36 mo36 mo7.00%469,603.73472,803.73
LS-03Diagnostic Analyzer ArrayFinance48 mo48 mo6.80%90,514.5092,014.50
LS-04Lobby & Floor CopiersShort-term11 moExcluded by electionn/aNot recognizedNot recognized
TOTAL     1,454,565.171,428,265.17

Take LS-01's bare 60-month term at face value instead of the concluded 120 and the liability prices at 486,550.84, understating it by 407,896.10 on this one lease alone.

RiverJudgement Notes

Judgement Notes

The reasonably certain call, weighed against all four factor categories together, before any option reaches a schedule.

FactorLS-01 HQ Office — 5-year renewal option
Contract-basedThe 45,000.00 tenant improvement allowance amortizes into the renewal term; leaving before renewal forfeits the unamortized balance.
Asset-basedLab benching, fume hood ductwork and reinforced flooring were built to this space and have negligible value if abandoned.
Market-basedThe renewal rate is the same fixed escalator as the initial term, not reset to fair market value at exercise.
Entity-basedNo comparable lab-and-office space was identified within a reasonable relocation radius.
ConclusionReasonably certain. Term used: 120 months, not the 60-month noncancelable period alone.

LS-02's warehouse option reaches the opposite conclusion for the opposite reasons: no incentive to forfeit, no specialized improvements, and a month-to-month holdover at market rate on the other side.

RiverLiability & ROU

Liability & ROU Activity — year ended 2026-12-31

Each lease's own mechanics for the full calendar year, not one shared formula.

RefLiab. Jan 1InterestPrincipalLiab. Dec 31ROU Jan 1AmortizationROU Dec 31
LS-01784,920.9949,091.7865,485.42719,435.57731,741.1571,618.14660,123.01
LS-02323,858.9417,719.31156,280.69167,578.25325,992.26157,347.37168,644.89
LS-0378,858.254,713.2121,086.7957,771.4678,595.7123,003.6455,592.07
TOTAL1,187,638.1871,524.30242,852.90944,785.281,136,329.12251,969.15884,359.97

LS-01's principal reduction (65,485.42) and its ROU amortization (71,618.14) differ by 6,132.72 for the year: the flat lease cost runs above the escalating rent early in the term, so the asset amortizes faster than the liability falls. A template that mirrors the liability column into the ROU schedule cannot produce this row.

RiverDisclosure

Disclosure Summary — year ended 2026-12-31

What the auditor tests, rolled forward from the two schedules rather than aged from last period's note.

Line itemAmount
Operating lease cost295,776.60
Finance lease amortization23,003.64
Finance lease interest4,713.21
Short-term lease cost4,510.00
Total lease cost328,003.45
Weighted-average remaining term, operating5.87 yrs
Weighted-average remaining term, finance2.42 yrs
Weighted-average discount rate, operating6.58%
Weighted-average discount rate, finance6.80%
2027 maturity, undiscounted (operating + finance)317,814.48
Total recognized lease liability, 12/31/26944,785.28

The maturity analysis's present value row ties to this same 944,785.28, which is the only thing proving the footnote actually describes the balance sheet it sits next to.

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What's in the pack

01

Lease Register

Every lease's commencement date, term, rate, escalation structure and every option extracted from the signed agreement itself.

02

Judgement Notes

The reasonably certain conclusion on every renewal, termination and purchase option, weighed against all four factor categories, not asserted.

03

Lease Policy

The discount rate election, the short-term lease election by asset class, and the spot-rate rule for index-linked payments.

04

ROU Asset Rollforward

Amortized on the mechanics its classification actually uses: straight-line for a finance lease, a single-lease-cost plug for an operating one.

05

Liability Amortization

Interest and principal split by the effective interest method, on the rate Lease Policy assigns to that asset class.

06

Disclosure Summary

Lease cost by component, supplemental cash flow, weighted-average term and rate, and the maturity analysis tied to the liability.

07

Space rule

Governs every prompt here: a renewal option is included because of a specific fact, never a default or a preference.

How to use it

  1. 1

    Open in River, or download it

    Open the pack in River and let the agent build both schedules from your own signed leases, or download the blank Word and CSV files instantly.

  2. 2

    Send the signed leases

    Every lease, amendment and side letter, plus any tenant improvement allowance or incentive letter. A rent roll or broker summary is not enough.

  3. 3

    Register and judge first

    Every lease and every option gets a row on Lease Register and a reasonably certain conclusion in Judgement Notes before either schedule is built.

  4. 4

    Roll the schedules and disclosure

    Right-of-Use Asset Rollforward and Liability Amortization compute from the concluded term, then Disclosure Summary rolls both into the weighted averages and maturity table.

Frequently asked questions

Is this template free?

Yes, all of it. Word documents and CSV sheets, no signup, no card required. Edit with AI is a separate, optional route for anyone who would rather hand over a folder of signed leases than build the register by hand.

Does this replace lease accounting software?

No, and it is not sized for a company that needs it. Dedicated lease software earns its cost once a portfolio runs into the hundreds of leases. A company with a handful of leases and an auditor who wants the judgment written down is the case this pack is built for, sized the same way the revenue recognition policy pack is.

What counts as a reasonably certain renewal option?

No single fact decides it. ASC 842-10-55-26 weighs contract-based, asset-based, market-based and entity-based factors together, such as an unamortized tenant improvement allowance, a below-market renewal rate, or the cost of relocating specialized leasehold improvements. Judgement Notes records the specific facts behind each conclusion, not just the outcome.

Why does a CPI-linked payment not use a forecasted rate?

Because the standard does not ask for one. A variable payment tied to an index is measured at that index's value on the commencement date, held flat for the initial schedule. A later change in that index flows through lease cost in the period it happens, rather than resetting the liability.

Why does the right-of-use asset amortize differently from the liability?

Because an operating lease and a finance lease use different mechanics. A finance lease's asset amortizes on its own straight-line schedule. An operating lease's asset absorbs whatever its single, straight-lined lease cost leaves over after that period's interest, which only matches the liability's principal reduction when rent never escalates.

How does this relate to the fixed asset register or balance sheet substantiation?

A right-of-use asset is scheduled here the same way an owned asset is scheduled on the fixed asset register, and both liability balances get the same period tie-out discipline the balance sheet substantiation pack applies to every account it covers.

What format are the downloaded files?

Two .docx documents, Lease Policy and Judgement Notes, plus four .csv sheets covering the register and both schedules, zipped into one downloadable file. They open natively in Word, Pages, Google Docs, Excel, Numbers and Sheets, with no conversion required.

Sources

  1. DART – Deloitte Accounting Research Tool5.2 Lease Term (opens in a new tab)
  2. grantthornton.comLease — Navigating the guidance in ASC 842 (opens in a new tab)
  3. PwC Viewpoint3.3 Lease classification criteria (opens in a new tab)

Written by

Chandler Supple

Co-founder & CEO, River

Chandler has spent the last six years working in AI, building tools for millions of users and Fortune 100 companies. In 2025, he co-founded River to build a new kind of operating system for AI agents.

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Reviewed by

Brian Joseff, Co-founder, River

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Get the judgment written down before the schedule

Download the blank pack as Word and CSV files, or open this exact pack in River and let the agent build your own register from your own signed leases.

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