Ian Ball

Job Title: Principal Advisor
Country: United States

After serving as IFAC’s chief executive officer for more than ten years, Ian Ball became a principal advisor in February 2013. In this role, Mr. Ball will continue, in a volunteer capacity, to represent IFAC as a member of the board and as chair of the Working Group of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC).

As an international thought leader, Mr. Ball regularly speaks on issues associated with government financial reporting and financial management, sovereign debt, and integrated reporting, as well as issues concerning the role of the accounting profession in the international financial system. Additionally, in his role as CEO of IFAC, Mr. Ball has been in liaison with international regulators and officials on accounting and auditing related policy and standard setting issues.

While serving as IFAC’s CEO, Mr. Ball developed and managed the execution of IFAC’s strategy and ensured necessary support for the independent standard-setting boards in the areas of auditing and assurance, ethics, accounting education, and public sector financial reporting. Earlier in his career he had been a member of New Zealand’s Accounting Standard Review Board and Financial Reporting Standards Board, and a member of the International Accounting Standards Board’s Advisory Council (then the Standards Advisory Council). As CEO he also oversaw developments in such areas as member body compliance and public policy and regulation.

From 1995 to 2000 Mr. Ball served as a member and then Chairman of its Public Sector Committee. In the latter role, he initiated the development of international standards for public sector financial reporting. During 2001 and 2002 he was a member of IFAC’s Nominating Committee.

Prior to joining IFAC, Mr. Ball was principal of Public Sector Performance (NZ) Ltd. and Professor of Accounting and Public Policy at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. From 1987 through 1994, he was with the New Zealand Treasury, first as director of financial management policy and then as central financial controller. In these roles he was responsible for the development and execution of financial management reforms elements of which have subsequently been widely adopted internationally.

Mr. Ball is a Life Member of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants, where he served as a member of the Council and of the Executive Board, and a Fellow of CPA Australia. He is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy in the UK.

Mr. Ball’s accomplishments have been recognized throughout the profession. He is a recipient of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s (CIPFA) President’s Medal, the New Zealand’s Institute of Chartered Accountants Life Membership distinction, the Freedom of City of London Award, he has been named a “Top 10 Influencer” by International Accounting Bulletin, and was awarded the International Accounting Bulletin’s Lifetime Achievement Award for 2013.

He has degrees in accounting from Victoria University of Wellington and a Ph.D. from the University of Birmingham, England.