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The Straight-Line Rent report adds the rent amounts for the entire lease term, and then divides the sum by the number of months in the lease term. The straight line rent is calculated at the beginning of the lease for the entire term of the lease agreement.

Under U.S. GAAP, rent in a company's financial statements should be recorded on a straight-line basis. To calculate monthly rent expense on a straight-line basis, you must first calculate the total cash paid for rent over the entire lease life and then divide by the number of months (i.e. 4 years = 48 months).

The straight-line expense method has always been required for operating leases because a lessee controls the underlying asset consistently throughout the term of the lease, so the related expense must be recognized on a consistent basis as well.

The Straight-Line Rent report adds the rent amounts for the entire lease term, and then divides the sum by the number of months in the lease term. The straight line rent is calculated at the beginning of the lease for the entire term of the lease agreement.

Adjust the monthly straight-line amount for the remaining period by the amount of the monthly increase. For example, if your monthly payment was $1500 and increased by $150 per month, you should record $1,650 per month going forward.

The straight-line concept is based on the idea that the usage of the rental arrangement is on a consistent basis over time; that is, the rented asset is used at about the same rate from month to month. To calculate straight-line rent, aggregate the total cost of all rent payments, and divide by the total contract term.

However, to calculate straight-line rent expense, you simply add up total cash rent paid and divide by the lease term in months. For example, if rent is $50,000 total for a 5 year lease and the first year is free, then you would pay the $50,000 over 4 years at $12,500 per month.