PE exec gains seat on FASB advisory council

Starting in January, Daniel Meader, founder and managing partner of Trinity Private Equity Group, will take a seat on the 34-man strong Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council (FASAC).

The FASAC advises the Financial Accounting Standard Board (FASB) – the body that sets US accounting standards – on future project priorities and possible new agenda items.

Meader joins nine other new council members, including Eisneramper senior partner Larry Gray and fellow audit and accounting professional Cathy Engelbert of Deloitte & Touche.

In addition to naming the new appointees, 24 current FASAC members had their terms renewed for an additional year. Eight FASAC members will complete their service at the end of the year.

In September, the FASAC released the results of a survey asking stakeholders for their feedback on its mandate.

Over 100 respondents comprised of accounting firms, academics, and preparers and users of financial statements cited a disclosure framework as most in need of FASB’s attention. Coming in second and third place, respectively, were financial instrument reporting and a convergence project that seeks to align US and international accounting standards.

Meader may be a voice for some accounting concerns acute to private equity firms. GPs and the portfolio companies they manage have long criticized US standards for resulting in financial statements bloated with disclosure notes. Often, these notes are too complex and difficult to read to be of much value to users of financial statements, critics contend.