Starbucks: Venti Leases By: Vaughan Radcliffe, Mitchell Stein, Caleb Yon

Starbucks: Venti Leases By: Vaughan Radcliffe, Mitchell Stein, Caleb Yon This case depicts a financial analyst trying to make sense of Starbucks' finances and drawing from recent projects of the IASB and FASB to identify lease accounting as a key issue for the firm. The case underscores the importance of having a full picture of a company's obligations in order to understand its overall performance. In reviewing the case, students examine Starbucks' extensive use of leases and use spreadsheet tools to understand the full extent of the corporation's indebtedness. Although heavy users of leases such as Starbucks have argued that lease accounting is complex, an estimation of lease indebtedness can be made using relatively simple tools that are easy for students to understand. The case allows issues of high-level accounting standards to be elucidated, using a well-known company with which students identify. The case illustrates the real-world consequences of accounting policy choices. Learning Objectives The case addresses lease accounting and develops students' skills in identifying lease obligations and quantifying indebtedness relating to lease payments. It also gives students insights into the accounting standard-setting process and the larger issues of standard setting and accounting policy, while showing how these areas influence our understanding of specific firms. The case has been used in introductory MBA core courses in managerial accounting and control. At the undergraduate level, the case has been used in corporate financial reporting electives concerning financial reporting practices. The case underscores the role of accounting policies and standards in shaping our understanding of corporations. It makes students aware of the larger institutional frameworks within which accounting operates. It also demonstrates how the accounting treatment of certain forms of financing may be key to their popularity - a potential answer to the question of whether accounting matters.