The Financial Accounting Foundation’s board of trustees has named Joel Black, partner-in-charge of the audit practice at the Top 100 Firm Mauldin & Jenkins LLC in Atlanta, the next chair of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, succeeding current chair David Vaudt.
Black’s seven-year, nonrenewable appointment takes effect July 1, 2020. He will join GASB in a few months to facilitate a smooth leadership transition from Vaudt, who has been leading the standard-setting board since 2013. GASB sets accounting standards for state and local governments. Its sister organization, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, which sets standards for businesses and nonprofits, is also undergoing a leadership transition, as is their parent foundation.
Late last month, the Financial Accounting Foundation, which oversees both FASB and GASB as well as the Private Company Council, announced a new chairman for FASB, Richard Jones, a partner and chief accountant at Ernst & Young, succeeding Russell Golden, who has been chairing FASB since 2013. The Financial Accounting Foundation also announced last month its own new chairman, Kathy Casey, a former commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission, succeeding Charles Noski (see
Black (pictured) has been overseeing the audit practice of Mauldin & Jenkins’ eight offices across five states, supervising more than 300 employees. He also leads M&J’s government professional practice group, which includes more than 400 public sector clients, ranging 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.
“I am very excited to take on this new professional challenge,” Black said in a statement Tuesday. “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.”
He was appointed to GASB’s Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council last year. Black has also served on the American Institute of CPAs’ State and Local Government Expert Panel from 2015 to 2019, and the AICPA’s Government Audit Quality Center Executive Committee from 2012 until 2015. He received the 2017 Service Award from the Georgia Government Finance Officers Association.
“Joel Black has a longstanding and demonstrated commitment to the mission and work of the GASB and will make an excellent chair,” said Casey in a statement. “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.”
Black originally joined Mauldin & Jenkins in 2004 as a director, was named partner in 2005 before being appointed to his current role in January 2019. Before joining M&J, he worked for KPMG LLP from 1992 to 2004. He graduated in 1992 from Georgia State University and is licensed as a CPA in both Georgia and Florida.
