New rules may make buying lab space better than leasing.

Medical laboratories that lease space for their operations will soon be affected by new guidelines from the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) for lease accounting. The proposed changes are momentous. They will almost certainly increase occupancy costs with additional accounting and reporting burdens. The new FASB guidelines may also make leasing substantially less attractive than buying, and they may change the way leases are structured. And be aware, it is likely that these new standards will apply to existing as well as new leases. The proposed FASB changes to lease accounting include the following: