Concerns about lease accounting raised by investors and other users of financial statements under International Financial Reporting Standards and US GAAP have led to a public discussion by the accounting standard-setters on the matter. In 2007, the total annual leasing volume soared at $760bn (£522bn), according to the World Leasing Yearbook 2009. But many of those lease contracts are not actually shown on a company's balance sheet. That is because IFRSs and US GAAP divide leases into two categories, those being finance leases and operating leases, and it is only the assets and liabilities arising from finance leases that are highlighted on the balance sheet. Calls have been made for finance and operating leases to be given the same treatment so that all lease contracts that give rise to assets and liabilities are recognised in the financial statements of lessees and to make a comparison of financial statements easier. The proposal by the IASB and FASB says that lease accounting should be based on the principle that all leases give rise to liabilities for future rental payments and assets that should be recognised on a company's balance sheet. This approach, it says, aims to ensure 'that leases are accounted for consistently across sectors and industries'. Robert Herz, chairman of the FASB, said the proposals 'are intended to improve the transparency, credibility and usefulness of lease accounting'. The discussion paper, entitled Leases: Preliminary Views is open for discussion until 17 July.