Choosing the right lease accounting software: a buyer’s guide for finance teams

ASC 842, IFRS 16, FRS 102. The standards are here to stay - and so is the software market built around them.

The trouble: most lease accounting tools look impressive in a demo. Half of them get painful by month two. If you’re evaluating options right now, here’s a buyer’s guide that cuts through the noise - written for the finance team that has to actually live with the choice.

What “good” looks like

Forget the feature lists for a moment. The lease accounting software that actually helps your team has these qualities:

• It lives close to your finance data. Not a separate silo. Not a parallel system you reconcile every month.
• It covers all the standards you need - in one place. ASC 842, IFRS 16, FRS 102. No add-on modules. No per-standard licensing.
• It handles modifications without drama. Because they’re going to happen. A lot.
• It’s auditor-friendly by default. Full audit trail, disclosures on demand, every change logged.
• It’s predictable to budget for. No per-lease fees that escalate as you grow. No surprise charges.
• It’s easy to learn. Your team isn’t sitting around waiting for a 3-week training program.

If any of those are missing, the software is doing less for you than it should.

The questions to ask every vendor

Before you sit through another demo, write these down. Make every vendor answer them clearly:

About fit

• Where does it live? Is it native to your finance system, or a separate platform you have to integrate?
• Which standards are included? ASC 842, IFRS 16, FRS 102 - all in, or paid add-ons?
• How does it handle multi-entity, multi-currency setups?

About workflow

• What happens when a lease is modified? Walk me through it.
• How are journal entries posted to the general ledger? Direct? Via export? Manual?
• How are disclosures generated? Show me one for ASC 842 and IFRS 16.

About control

• What does the audit trail look like? Who changed what, when, why?
• What does day-one onboarding look like? Who owns implementation?
• What’s the user permission model? Can I separate access by entity or by role?

About cost

• What’s the total monthly cost - and what’s included?
• Are there per-lease, per-user, or per-standard fees?
• What happens to my lease data if I cancel?

The right vendor answers all of these in plain language. The wrong one will dodge two or three.

Red flags to watch for

A few things that should make you pause:

• Pricing tied to lease count. Your portfolio will grow - your software bill shouldn’t punish you for it.
• “Discovery call required” for a price. If they can’t tell you the cost upfront, the cost is probably not your favorite part of the deal.
• Middleware required for ERP integration. That’s another vendor, another contract, another point of failure.
• Standards sold separately. ASC 842 should not cost extra. Neither should FRS 102.
• No clear onboarding plan. “We’ll figure it out together” is not an implementation strategy.

How Onederful answers these questions

Quick version, since this guide is about helping you decide - not selling:

• Lives natively inside Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Lease accounting where your finance data already is.
• Covers ASC 842, IFRS 16, and FRS 102 - all included.
• Flat €250 / $250 per month. Unlimited leases. Unlimited users. No add-on fees.
• Modifications, remeasurements, and disclosures handled automatically.
• Journals post directly to your BC general ledger. Full audit trail on every change.
• Implementation is fixed-price and scoped upfront. Typical timeline: 2–4 weeks.
• Month-to-month subscription. Cancel anytime - your lease data stays in your BC environment.

If you’re on Business Central, that’s the short answer. If not, your shortlist should still match the criteria above - whatever you end up choosing.

The bottom line

The right lease accounting software isn’t the one with the longest feature list. It’s the one your team can actually use, every day, without thinking about it.