Aside from people expenses (a.k.a. all headcount-related costs), do you know what the next highest expense line item in your organization’s budget is?For many, the answer to this question is the cost and value of your leases. When you consider commercial real estate, vehicles, equipment, land and more, this reality isn’t surprising. What is shocking, however, is that although most organizations have robust financial controls in place to monitor people-related expenses (salaries, benefits, T&E, etc.), the same can’t always be said for their lease portfolio-related expenses. For 25+ years, we’ve been in the business of helping organizations manage, track and report on their leases, and we’ve seen firsthand just how detrimental inadequate controls can be. Despite industry or size, the outcome is always the same: poor visibility across your leases results in significant amounts of time, money and potential business gains lost.To grasp just how much is at stake here, consider that a lease can cost businesses hundreds of millions of dollars, which begs the question: why wouldn’t you pay closer attention to such a large percentage of your operating expenses, particularly as your business needs and the market continues to change? What’s more is that proper lease management is the key to confident, ongoing lease accounting compliance, which is critical for public and private companies, in addition to government entities, all of which are now required to record leases on the balance sheet in accordance with the ASC 842, IFRS 16 and GASB 87 lease accounting standards. If they fail to do this correctly, they risk increased audit fees and fines, potential legal action and damaged credibility.