Consumption-oriented commercial models reduce upfront costs and make advanced technology accessible to a broader range of customers.
As demand for artificial intelligence, high-performance computing and data center modernization accelerates, technology manufacturers are rethinking how they commercialize their products.
Traditional one-time hardware sales are increasingly complemented by financing, subscription and Infrastructure-as-a-Service models that give customers access to technology without substantial upfront investment. These models create attractive recurring revenue opportunities and stronger customer relationships.
They also introduce significant operational and accounting complexity, particularly when contracts fall within the scope of lease accounting standards such as ASC 842 and IFRS 16.
This use case illustrates how a technology manufacturer can leverage Lease&Rent and SAP S/4HANA to manage the complete lifecycle of an AI infrastructure financing arrangement, from contract creation and asset delivery through billing, accounting, and reporting.
The business objectives
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Accelerate customer adoption
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Build recurring revenue
Long-term contractual agreements convert traditional hardware transactions into stable, predictable revenue streams.
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Increase customer lifetime value
Customers can expand capacity, upgrade technology and add services over time, creating ongoing growth opportunities.
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Differentiate commercially
As hardware performance converges, financing flexibility and consumption-based offerings become powerful differentiators.
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Scale globally
Hundreds or thousands of contracts across countries, currencies, legal entities and accounting frameworks demand automation.
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The consequence
Without a purpose-built solution, finance teams fall back on spreadsheets that led to raising audit effort, compliance risk and cost.
Why accounting complexity increases
While the commercial proposition may resemble a subscription service, the accounting treatment can be significantly more complex. When dedicated infrastructure assets are provided for a defined term and the customer obtains control over their economic use, the arrangement may qualify as a lease, treated either as a sales-type lease under ASC 842 or a finance lease under IFRS 16 lessor accounting.
How Lease&Rent supports finance organizations
A centralized framework for managing lease accounting across the entire contract lifecycle.
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Automated lease classification
Evaluate and classify lease arrangements based on configured accounting policies.
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Initial measurement & valuation
Automatic calculation of lease receivables, present values, interest schedules, financing income and net investment in lease.
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Contract modification management
Changes across the lifecycle are assessed and processed without manual recalculation.
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Multi-GAAP support
Parallel IFRS 16 and ASC 842 accounting views, generated from a single contractual data foundation.
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Contract management
Commercial agreements, financing structures, payment schedules, customer obligations, amendments, capacity expansions and renewal options.
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Accounting management
Classification decisions, lease receivable calculations, interest accruals, accounting events, modification accounting and multi-GAAP views.
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SAP finance integration
Entries transfer directly into SAP S/4HANA Finance for GL, AR, financial close, consolidation and regulatory reporting.
