Bringing all the leases onto the balance sheet is expected to have benefits for investors. The rule further standardizes how leases are presented in financial statements — and perhaps subjects them to deeper scrutiny by auditors. The rule could make it easier for investors to compare the strength of several companies in one sector.

“The new guidance responds to requests from investors and other financial statement users for a more faithful representation of an organization’s leasing activities,” Russell G. Golden, chairman of the accounting standards board, said in a statement.

Under the new rule, companies must bring their “operating leases” onto their balance sheets. Operating leases give a company the right to use an asset, like a retail location in a mall, over time. Companies owe far more through operating leases than they do through capital leases, which are already accounted for on companies’ balance sheets. Capital leases typically allow companies to gain ownership of the asset at the end of the lease. Leases of less than 12 months will not have to be included on the balance sheet.

The new leasing rule will not affect earnings. The way lease payments are reflected in the income statement will not change.

Industry lobbyists have asserted that adopting the rule on leases will create new costs for companies. But they also said that the accounting standards board had listened to companies’ concerns.

“F.A.S.B. has been very receptive to hearing what the problems are,” Mr. Quaadman said, referring to the board.

For most public companies, the rule will take effect in 2019, but companies may adopt it earlier.

Since Enron’s collapse, the accounting standards board has taken other steps to prevent companies from hiding the true extent of their financial obligations. The board has, for example, introduced rules that aim to prevent companies from using special off-balance-sheet entities to obscure how much they really owe.