The Board of Trustees of the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) today announced that it has appointed Joel M. Black as the next chair of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB).

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Joel M. Black, incoming GASB chair (Photo: Business Wire)

Joel M. Black, incoming GASB chair (Photo: Business Wire)

Mr. Black will succeed David A. Vaudt, and his seven-year, nonrenewable appointment is effective July 1, 2020. Mr. Black will join the organization in a few months in order to enable a smooth, orderly leadership transition for the GASB.

Mr. Black is the partner in charge of the audit practice at the accounting firm Mauldin & Jenkins, LLC, in Atlanta, where he oversees the audit practice of the firm’s eight offices throughout five states, including the work of more than 300 employees. In this capacity, he also leads the firm’s government professional practice group covering more than 400 public sector clients. He has personally led engagements for diverse government clients, from communities of fewer than 10,000 residents to states and state agencies, large counties and cities, school districts, and special-purpose entities with multibillion-dollar budgets.

Mr. Black joined Mauldin & Jenkins in 2004 as a director. He was named partner in 2005 before being appointed to his current role in January 2019. Before joining the firm, Mr. Black worked for the accounting firm KPMG LLP from 1992 to 2004.

Mr. Black has been involved in numerous professional activities concerning government accounting. He was appointed to the GASB’s Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council (GASAC) in 2019. He served on the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ (AICPA) State and Local Government Expert Panel from 2015–2019, and its Government Audit Quality Center Executive Committee from 2012–2015. He is a frequent conference speaker and webinar instructor on governmental accounting issues and received the 2017 Service Award from the Georgia Government Finance Officers Association.

Mr. Black is a 1992 graduate of Georgia State University and is a licensed CPA in Georgia and Florida.

“Joel Black has a longstanding and demonstrated commitment to the mission and work of the GASB and will make an excellent chair,” said FAF Chair Kathleen L. Casey. “He brings extensive knowledge and experience to the role and has genuine appreciation for the opportunities and challenges that our stakeholders face as accounting standards change. We are pleased to welcome him to the organization and look forward to his future leadership.”

“I am very excited to take on this new professional challenge,” said Mr. Black. “I have been immersed my entire adult life in the important, complex world of governmental accounting. I am eager to join my new colleagues in the mission to establish and improve accounting standards, and to engage with the remarkably diverse groups of stakeholders who care so much about public sector financial reporting.”

About the Financial Accounting Foundation

Established in 1972, the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) is the independent, private-sector, not-for-profit organization based in Norwalk, Connecticut responsible for the oversight, administration, financing, and appointment of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). The FASB and GASB establish and improve financial accounting and reporting standards—known as Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or GAAP—for public and private companies, not-for-profit organizations, and state and local governments in the United States. For more information, visit www.accountingfoundation.org.