GASB 87 Software: What Government Entities Need to Know

Most lease accounting content online is written for private companies dealing with ASC 842. If you work in government finance — a city, county, school district, or public university — your governing standard is different: GASB 87, issued by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board. It shares the same broad goal as ASC 842 (getting lease obligations onto the balance sheet), but it's a distinct standard with its own rules, and it needs software that actually treats it as a first-class standard rather than an afterthought.

Why GASB 87 isn't just "government ASC 842"

It's tempting to assume GASB 87 is simply the public-sector version of ASC 842, but there are real structural differences worth knowing before you shop for software:

• Single model, not dual classification. Like IFRS 16, GASB 87 does away with the operating/finance lease distinction. Nearly all leases are treated the same way — a lease receivable or lease liability, recognized consistently.
• Different effective dates and transition guidance. Governmental entities have followed their own implementation timeline, and many are still working through legacy lease portfolios that were never formally inventoried.
• A sibling standard for subscriptions. GASB 96 extends similar balance-sheet treatment to subscription-based IT arrangements (SaaS contracts, cloud software subscriptions) — a category ASC 842 doesn't address the same way. If your entity has SaaS spend, this is worth confirming your software supports too.

What to look for in GASB 87 software

• Confirmed GASB 87 (and ideally GASB 96) support, not just a generic claim of "government-ready." Ask the vendor directly whether their calculation engine was built for GASB 87's specific requirements or adapted from an ASC 842 codebase after the fact.
• Support for both lessee and lessor accounting. Government entities frequently lease out space or equipment as well as lease it in — parks departments, transit authorities, and school districts often sit on both sides of lease agreements. Confirm the software handles both roles, not just the lessee side.
• Public-sector reporting formats. Your financial statements follow different presentation requirements than a private company's 10-K. Software built primarily for corporate finance teams may not generate the specific schedules your auditors expect.
• Portfolio-wide lease inventory tools. Many public entities are still working from incomplete lease records scattered across departments. A platform with strong lease abstraction or bulk-import capabilities can meaningfully shorten the initial implementation project.

Platforms in this directory that support GASB 87

Based on our review of 23 lease accounting and administration tools, these explicitly support GASB 87 (several also cover GASB 96):

• EZLease — supports ASC 842, IFRS 16, GASB 87, and GASB 96 in parallel, with over 15 years of implementations across private, government, and public organizations
• LeaseQuery (FinQuery) — one of the broadest standards coverage in the category, including GASB 87 and SFFAS 54 for federal entities
• Cradle — parallel ASC 842/IFRS 16/GASB 87/GASB 96 support with transparent, published pricing
• Crunchafi — built by CPAs and auditors, supports GASB 87, 94, and 96 alongside ASC 842 and IFRS 16
• Lease Harbor — automates compliance with FASB, IFRS, and GASB standards within one fully integrated system
• NetLease (Netgain) — supports GASB 87 and 96 alongside ASC 842 and IFRS 16, run natively inside NetSuite
• LeaseAccelerator — enterprise-scale lease lifecycle automation with GASB 87 support built in

You can compare these and the rest of our 23 listed platforms by Compliance Standards, ERP integrations, and pricing model on our Lease Accounting category page.

This article is for general informational purposes and isn't a substitute for advice from your auditor or accounting firm — GASB 87 implementation details vary by entity type and should be confirmed with your specific reporting requirements in mind.