French Oil \& Gas Company is an energy exploration company located in westem France. The company has traditionally explored oil and gas in the European continent. The company's board of directors has been debating a major shift in operations in order to meet the growing demand for energy. Due to the relatively high gas prices from Russia, French Oil \& Gas Company has decided to explore shale oil starting in France and then moving to Italy and Greece. Shale oil requires specialized equipment that can dig and break hard rock so that oil can be extracted. The only company that leases these specialized equipment is LeaseGerm Company, which is a leasing company located in Germany. On January 1, 2023, French Oil \& Gas Company decided to lease Shale oil machinery from LeaseGerm Company. The two companies decided that the lease term is 8 years with yearly lease payments of $1,200,000 starting on January 1, 2023 and then each December 31 thereafter. The details of the agreement indicate that the interest rate agreed upon by the two companies is 6%. Additional details suggest that the useful life of the Shale oil machinery is 15 years with no residual value. It is important to note that LeaseGerm had just recently purchased the machinery for $16,455,950. On the date of signing the contract between the two companies, the directing manager of LeaseGerm told the representative from French Oil \& Gas Company the following: "It is interesting that you would want to lease these machines at this time. As you know these are specialized machinery that only a few companies worldwide can use. However, an American company called Texas Shale leased the exact same machinery today. Their lease term agreements are the same as yours. The only difference is that French Oil \& Gas Company is located in the France, while Texas Shale is located in the United States." 1. Discuss some of the challenges that face accountants worldwide when conducting international transactions (such as foreign currency exchange rates, buying or selling from/to overseas companies, import, and export ...... etc.,). 2. Briefly explain the major differences between U.S. GAAP and IFRS with particular emphasis on the following accounting issues: - Revenue recognition prior to delivery, at delivery, and after delivery; - Reporting for leases; and - Reporting liabilities at fair value. 3. With respect to leasing machinery, determine the appropriate lease classification by the lessee and indicate why, then analyze the amounts and nature of expenses that the lessee (i.e., French Oil \& Gas Company and Texas Shale) will record for the entire lease term. 4. If this machinery was not of a specialized nature, what would be the appropriate lease classification by the lessee (i.e., French Oil \& Gas Company and Texas Shale) under this scenario? And what would be the amounts and nature of expenses that the two companies would have reported for this type of leases, and compare your answer with that one of the previous requirement to determine which leasing type would provide the higher profit to each company
