A way of acquiring the use of assets without ownership or incurring the initial purchase cost of the assets. The customer selects the asset they wish to use which is typically owned by the supplier/leasing company. The leasing company owns the asset and recovers part of the cost of the asset, as well as the interest and their profit, from periodic rental payments made by the customer during the agreement. As the leasing company has an economic interest in the asset at the end of the leasing period, the customer is required to give back the asset to the leasing company at that time. When using an operating lease, the asset is not shown on the balance sheet and rental payments are treated as an operating expense. See also Hire Purchase and Lease, Finance.