---
title: "Finance lease: what it means · The AI Compute Race · DRYBURGH"
source: https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/finance-lease
description: "Finance lease: A lease that accounting treats as a purchase paid for over time, so that it counts with capital spending. The Scorecard."
---

# Finance lease

What does “Finance lease” mean?

Finance leaseA lease that accounting treats as a purchase paid for over time, so that it counts with capital spending. *The Scorecard.*

From *The AI Compute Race*. [Read the book](https://dryburgh.com/vol1#buy)

## Where the record uses it

- Scorecard indicator [Hyperscalers’ Q1 operating cash flow (OCF) / cash capex](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/scorecard#row-21)
- Scorecard indicator [Microsoft Jun. quarter](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/scorecard#row-22)

## Sources that use it

- Microsoft holds line on AI spending plans, *CFO Dive*, 30 July 2026 (useful life of datacenters extended from 15 to 25 years; calendar-2026 capex restated at about $175 billion; Amy Hood: “more of our future data center leases will shift from finance leases to operating leases as a result of this update”; “Finance leases are included in capital expenditures, while operating leases are not”). [In the Sources](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/sources/press#cfodive-msft)

From the glossary of The AI Compute Race.

- [Campuses](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/ledger)
- [Tests](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/tests)
- [Scorecard](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/scorecard)
- [Data](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/data/releases)
- [Chapter by chapter](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/companion)
- [The record at a glance](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/observatory)
- [The machine](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/machine)
- [One campus, four futures](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/hyperion)
- [Glossary](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary)
- [People](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/people)
- [Sources](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/sources)
- [Notes](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/notes)
- [Where the book was wrong](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/corrections)
- [Where its sources were wrong](https://dryburgh.com/corrections?book=vol1)
- [The Paper](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/paper)
- [Consent](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/consent)
- [Who builds and pays](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/parties)

*The AI Compute Race: Five Races, One Machine* is a book by Lee S. Dryburgh, the first volume of THE COMPUTE ECONOMY, published by Dryburgh, an imprint of Contestra OÜ, Tallinn, Estonia; its record closes on 8 November 2026.

[About the book](https://dryburgh.com/vol1)[Tell me when it is out](https://dryburgh.com/vol1#notify)