An operating equipment lease is a lease that corresponds to the leased asset. According to German case law, these are components of buildings in a commercial enterprise that serve a purpose separate from the building. For tax purposes, they can be leased like movable assets. Operating equipment includes, for example, loading and freight elevators, shop fittings, conveying equipment or high-bay warehouses. To evaluate consumption (e.g. from the warehouse, raw materials), the acquisition costs, the replacement costs, fixed transfer prices or accounting collective valuation methods can be used.

The following accounting collective valuation methods are available:

• FIFO – First in, First out – oldest inventories are consumed first
• HIFO – Highest in, First out – the most expensive inventories are consumed first
• LIFO – Last in, First out – the newest inventories are consumed first
• LOFO – Lowest in, First out – the cheapest inventories are consumed first
• Average method – the consumption of inventories is evaluated using a periodic or moving average price

A general statement as to which method is the “best” cannot be made. Here, the operational environment, the tax situation and the price development of the inventories are always important.