Ian Ball

Ian Ball is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Accounting and Commercial Law at Victoria University of Wellington, Chair of the Audit Committee for the financial statements of the New Zealand Government, Principal of Public Sector Performance (NZ) Ltd, an advisor on government accounting matters to Japonica Partners and a member of the Advisory Group for the Korea Institute of Public Finance.

He was Chief Executive Officer of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) (2002-2013). Earlier, as Chairman of the IFAC Public Sector Committee (now the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board) (1995-2000), he initiated and led the development of International Public Sector Accounting Standards. While with the New Zealand Treasury (1987-1994) he was responsible (as Director of Financial Management Policy and Central Financial Controller) for the design of the New Zealand Government’s financial management system and the development of the Public Finance Act 1989.

He has also been Professor of Accounting and Public Policy at Victoria University of Wellington (1994-2002) and a member of the New Zealand Accounting Standards Review Board and the Standards Advisory Council of the International Accounting Standards Board. In the period 2010-2014 he was closely involved in the development of Integrated Reporting, having chaired the Working Group and been a board member of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC).

Ian Ball is a Life Member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, and a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. He has accounting degrees from Victoria University of Wellington and a Ph.D. from the University of Birmingham, England.

Ian Ball has previously served as an IIRC Board member. He is a Principal Advisor at IFAC and Chairman of CIPFA International. Ball was Chief Executive Officer of IFAC between 2002 and 2013. He had previously served as a member of IFAC’s Nominating Committee and as Chairman of its Public Sector Committee.

Prior to assuming the role of CEO at IFAC, he 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.

Ball is a Fellow and 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. He has degrees in accounting from Victoria University of Wellington and a PhD from the University of Birmingham, England.

Ian Ball has been the CEO of IFAC since 2002. Prior to this role, he was Principal of Public Sector Performance (NZ) Ltd and Professor of Accounting and Public Policy at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, a position he still holds. Ball is a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants, where he served on both the Council and Executive Board, and of CPA Australia. He is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy in the United Kingdom. He has degrees in accounting from Victoria University of Wellington and a PhD from the University of Birmingham, England.

He is a recipient of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s President’s Medal and the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants’ Life Membership distinction, and he has been named a “Top 10 Influencer” by International Accounting Bulletin.