Accounting for property in the UK: The legal and professional framework

The paper proposes to outline the rules, regulations and generally accepted accounting principles that must be followed when recognising and valuing property in UK financial statements. Its aim is to give the professional surveyor or corporate real estate adviser a clear understanding of the underlying principles involved and also the rules and conventions that must be followed. A plethora of new regulations has led to a range of new practices that must be understood by those advising upon corporate property matters. Not least of the reasons are the direct effects property matters now have upon balance sheets and profit and loss accounts. The aim of this paper is to offer corporate real estate managers an overview of the accounting framework in which they must offer advice to businesses. Traditionally, non‐property companies have tended to relegate property matters to advisers, who found themselves excluded from the key strategic decision‐making processes of the company, despite the large amounts of capital frequently tied up in their premises. The rise of facilities management and new forms of serviced office structure began to increase awareness of the issue. However, recent changes to accounting standards by the Accounting Standards Board (ASB) will impact directly upon the balance sheet and profit and loss account. In short, property issues directly impinge upon a business’s ability to report profits. Even so, relatively few property‐related views were put forward as part of the consultation process in the creation of these new standards. The area that has achieved most notice recently has been desire for accurate and consistent valuation and depreciation of assets ‐ including the management and maintenance of properties, and the selection of the property valuer. The basic premise behind such changes was to make accounts more visible and to demand clear logic and rationality of sensible business decisions. The paper deals solely with firms operating as manufacturers or service providers, with no interest in their property except as a place to do business, and an asset held as part of that business. Neither investment properties nor leased properties are discussed here, for reasons of space.