On January 7, 2020, The Board of Trustees of the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) announced that it has appointed Joel M. Black as the next chair of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). 
 
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 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.