APPENDIX B—BUDGETARY TREATMENT OF LEASE-PURCHASES
AND LEASES OF CAPITAL ASSETS
Page 10 of Appendix B OMB Circular No. A–11 (2024)
Imputed interest cost means the financing costs that Treasury would have incurred if it had sold debt to the
public equal to the total project cost. The difference between the total estimated legal obligations (excluding
obligations for annual operating expenses as described in section 2(b)) and their estimated net present value
represents imputed interest costs. Imputed interest costs will be calculated at Treasury rates for marketable
debt instruments of similar maturity to the lease term on the date the contract is signed. These costs will be
considered mandatory under the BBEDCA and will be shown in the same function as interest on agency
debt, that is, in the function that provided the obligational authority to enter into the contract.
Differential cost of financing means the total annual interest payments on any debt sold to the public less
the interest payments that would have been made on the same amount of debt at the Treasury rate (i.e., less
the imputed interest costs). Simply stated, this corresponds to any interest above Treasury's interest rate.
Asset cost means the present value of the agency's minimum lease and other contractually required
payments discounted from the date of the first payment (or the beginning of the lease term, whichever is
earlier) using the Treasury interest rate for marketable debt instruments of similar maturity to the lease term
on the date the contract is signed and excluding obligations for identifiable annual operating expenses as
described in section 2(b). Asset cost corresponds to the total construction or acquisition costs, plus property
taxes and any interest above Treasury's cost of financing (i.e., the differential cost of financing). See section
4 for more detailed explanation and the treatment of multiple deliveries.
4. Guidance on calculations
A schedule of lease and other contractually required payments or an amortization schedule is required to
calculate budget authority, outlays, and debt for capital leases or lease-purchases. The correct Treasury rate
to use for discounting to present value and for calculating imputed interest costs will be based on the
economic assumptions in the most recent budget, which, for the current year, are published in the annual
update to Appendix C of OMB Circular No. A–94. Revised forecasts of these Treasury interest rates are
released whenever economic assumptions for the budget are updated. Use Treasury rates for marketable
debt instruments of similar maturity to the lease term on the date the contract is signed. Discount from the
date of the first payment (or the beginning of the lease term, whichever is earlier). The term selected for
the Treasury rate should be comparable to the term of the capital lease or lease-purchase.
All assumptions required to perform the lease analysis are subject to OMB approval.
Step 1—Calculate up-front BA.
For lease-purchase without substantial private risk; lease-purchase with substantial private risk; and
capital lease (including lease-back from public/private partnership with substantial private sector
participation): To determine up-front BA (i.e., asset cost), calculate the present value of the lease and other
contractually required payments, discounting from the date of the first payment or the beginning of the
lease term, whichever is earlier, using the appropriate Treasury interest rate as the discount factor and
excluding obligations for identifiable annual operating expenses as described in section 2(b). This BA is
scored when the authority to enter into a contract for the lease-purchase or capital lease first becomes
available for obligation.
However, if the lease contract provides for multiple deliveries of assets, the up-front BA is sum of the
present values of the lease and other contractually required payments for each asset discounted back to the
date that the asset is delivered. For example, if the lease contract provides for the delivery of one machine
in each of the next five years, the lease and other contractually required payments for the machine acquired
in the first year would be discounted back to the first year, while the lease and other contractually required