IPSAS - Key Persons
Agustina Llambi is responsible for the development of IPSAS, working to address constituents' needs, she works with Task Forces, IPSASB Members, and Technical Advisors to deliver on the IPSASB's Work Program. Currently, she is the co-lead of the Measurement Application Phase project and the 2024-2028 Strategy and Work Program. She also leads the stakeholder engagement with Latin America raising awareness, building alliances, and supporting regional initiatives to strengthen public financial management.
Before joining the IPSASB, Agustina provided accounting advisory services to TD Bank - Wholesale Segment on complex accounting transactions, and implementation of new and amended accounting standards. Agustina has over 10 years of accounting professional experience in the private sector, specifically in financial institutions. She started her accounting career at Deloitte's Audit Practice - Financial Institutions.
Agustina is a Chartered Professional Accountant, Chartered Accountant (CPA, CA).
Job Titles:
- Member of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board ( IPSASB ) in January 2024. She Was Nominated by the New Zealand External Reporting Board
- Principal Accounting Advisor for the New Zealand Treasury
Angela Ryan became a member of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) in January 2024. She was nominated by the New Zealand External Reporting Board.
Ms. Ryan is a principal accounting advisor for the New Zealand Treasury with over 17 years of experience in applying accrual accounting at the sovereign government level. This includes providing accounting policy advice on a range of issues affecting the Financial Statements of the Government of New Zealand.
Ms. Ryan has been actively involved in setting accounting standards in New Zealand for many years, both as a member and Deputy Chair of the External Reporting Board's Accounting Standards Board until her term ended in December 2021. This will be Ms. Ryan's second term on the IPSASB having been a member between 2015-2017, including Deputy Chair in 2017.
Ms. Ryan holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration from Victoria University of Wellington and is a fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Job Titles:
- Principal
- Board Member of Homeless Connect Toronto
- Canadian Chartered Professional Accountant
- Principal at the International Public Sector Accounting
Celine Chan is a Principal at the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB). Since joining the IPSASB staff in 2022, she supported sustainability reporting technical projects and strategic initiatives to deliver the IPSASB work program and is currently leading the Climate-related Disclosures Standard Project.
Prior to joining the IPSASB, Celine was an AVP in Accounting Policy and Advisory at TD Bank where she led a team advising on transactions, business and intangible valuations, and retail banking under IFRS and U.S. GAAP. Celine started her accounting career in Deloitte Canada's assurance practice specializing in financial institutions primarily based in Toronto, Canada as well as a secondment in North Carolina, United States and a volunteer position in Tanzania.
Celine also serves as a Board member of Homeless Connect Toronto, a registered Canadian charity that engages the local community and builds partnerships to contribute to solutions for overcoming homelessness in the city.
Celine is a Canadian Chartered Professional Accountant and holds a Bachelor of International Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto, Canada.
Job Titles:
- Principal
- Principal at the International Public Sector Accounting
Christoph Braxton is a Principal at the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB).
Christoph joined the IPSASB staff in January 2023. Before joining IPSASB, Christoph was a Director at Ducharme Consulting providing accounting advisory and training to the public sector in South Africa and Namibia on complex transactions, implementation of new accounting standards, and annual financial statements.
Claudia Beier joined the IPSASB as a member in January 2022, previously serving as a technical advisor with the IPSASB between 2016 and 2021. She was nominated by the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Finance.
She is head of the accounting department of Canton of Zurich since 2013. Ms. Beier is responsible for the development and implementation of accounting policies based on IPSAS within Canton of Zurich.
Prior to joining the public sector, Ms. Beier worked as auditor and advisor for different companies for more than 15 years.
She is member of Swiss Public Sector Financial Reporting Advisory Committee SRS-CSPCP, which monitors and supports the implementation of Swiss Public Sector Standards.
Ms. Beier is Wirtschaftsprüfer (German CPA), eingetragener Revisionsexperte (Swiss CPA) and Steuerberater (German Tax Advisor) and has a diploma in Business Administration from the University of Halle/Saale, Germany.
Her Technical Advisor is Marc Wermuth.
David Watkins spent 34 years in the UK public sector. He began his career at the National Audit Office (NAO), where he gained his Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) qualification. He became a CIPFA Fellow in February 2016.
His experience in the NAO was mainly focused on auditing accruals accounts. He moved to HM Treasury in 2000, where he worked on accounting policies for Whole of Government Accounts, including social benefits and tax. Mr. Watkins became secretary to the Financial Reporting Advisory Board and developed the Government Financial Reporting Manual.
In May 2006, he became Head of Financial Reporting Policy where he led the move to International Financial Reporting Standards across central government. In September 2008, Mr. Watkins moved to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office where he held a number of roles relating to improving processes and procedures. He retired from the public service in April 2013. Between May 2013 and July 2022, he provided consultancy services relating to improving Public Financial Management and migrating to accrual based accounting, mainly in Africa.
He has been a team member on a number of IMF missions relating to improving government financial reporting. He was the Chair of CIPFA's Accounting and Auditing Standards Panel (from May 2010 to September 2021) and was a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants' Public Sector Global Forum (2007 to 2016).
Dr. Maik Esser-Müllenbach was appointed as a member of IPSASB from January 2022. He was nominated by the Bundesrechnungshof, the German Supreme Audit Institution (SAI). Dr. Esser-Müllenbach is the German SAI's team leader in charge of international auditing and accounting standards and external audit mandates. He represents the German SAI in the Financial Audit and Accounting Subcommittee (FAAS) of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI). Dr. Esser-Müllenbach coordinated and monitored audit work performed within the German SAI's membership on the United Nations Board of Auditors from 2016 to 2022. The German SAI's portfolio included various United Nations organizations and agencies.
He has more than 20 years of experience in the public sector. He started his career as an academic researcher at the Ruhr University Bochum. Subsequently he worked for the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority and then joined the German SAI in 2011. Before moving to the international relations unit, he was an audit manager in the areas of national debt management and financial market stabilization including winding-up agencies. On the European level, he carried out audit work in the context of the European debt crisis. Dr. Esser-Müllenbach holds a Master's degree in economics. He was awarded a PhD for a thesis on international accounting for business combinations in 2004.
His Technical Advisor is Timm Klare.
Job Titles:
- Professor at the Graduate School of Political Science
Dr. Kobayashi is a professor at the Graduate School of Political Science, Waseda. She was a president of the Board of Audit of Japan from 2018-2019, and the deputy president of the Board of Audit of Japan from 2013-2018. Dr. Kobayashi is the chair of JICPA Self-Regulatory Monitoring Conference from 2021. She is the chair of Subcommittee on Financial Inspection, Intellectual Property Committee, Industrial Structural Counsil from 2021. She is also a member of a JICPA project team studying governance for public service deliverers from 2023.
In Japan, Dr. Kobayashi was a member of the Fiscal System Council; Business Accounting Council; Secretariat of Supervisory Commission for Public-Private and Private-Private Competitive Tenderings; Committee for the Promotion of the Private Finance Initiative; and Commission on Policy Evaluation and Evaluation of Incorporated Administrative Agencies, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Dr. Kobayashi was also a member and chief of executive committee for the working group on local public enterprise strategy throughout the 21st century for the Local Public Enterprise preCommunications, and an expert advisor for the Committee for the Promotion of the Private Finance Initiative.
Dr. Kobayashi earned a PhD in commerce at Waseda University and has published many articles and books including, the Management Accounting for the Government.
Her Technical Advisor is Takeo Fukiya.
Job Titles:
- Principal
- Principal of the International Public Sector Accounting
Edwin Ng is a Principal of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB). Since joining the IPSASB staff in 2019, Edwin has led the IPSASB's projects on transfer expenses and natural resources. In addition, Edwin was involved in the development of the revenue standard and the IPSASB Staff Q&A documents on the financial reporting impacts of contingencies and financial guarantees, COVID-19 and climate change.
Prior to joining the IPSASB, Edwin worked for several years for the Canadian regulatory body overseeing listed company audits performed by public accounting firms. Before working as a regulator, Edwin worked in the department of professional practice at KPMG accounting firm in Canada and focused on complex issues relating to revenue recognition, income taxes, business combinations, consolidation, employee benefits, and financial instruments. During this time, Edwin also worked with a number of Canadian public sector corporations and utilities on accounting issues under the Canadian Public Sector Accounting Standards and IFRS.
Edwin holds a Master of Accounting degree from the University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Canada) and is a Canadian Chartered Professional Accountant.
Job Titles:
- Principal
- Principal at the International Public Sector Accounting
Eileen Zhou is a Principal at the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB). Since joining the IPSASB staff in 2020, Eileen has supported the IPSASB on various technical projects and strategic initiatives. She is the staff lead on the IPSASB Consultative Advisory Group (CAG) and oversees the ‘Navigating IPSAS' and IFRIC alignment initiatives. Eileen led the development of the Revenue standard (IPSAS 47) and supported the development of the Transfer Expenses standard (IPSAS 48). She also provided support on other projects, including Public Sector Specific Financial Instruments and the limited scope update of IPSAS 33.
Prior to joining the IPSASB, Eileen was a Manager in the Financial Accounting Advisory Services practice at Ernst & Young (EY) Canada, with diverse experiences in accounting change implementation and transaction accounting advisory under IFRS and U.S. GAAP. She also provided advisory services related to cost model development and analysis, finance assessments, and internal control processes. During this time, and her work in the PwC and EY audit practices, she gained experience in public and private sectors across various industries, including healthcare, education, government, cannabis, and telecommunications.
Eileen graduated from Queen's University with a Bachelor of Commerce (Honors) and a Graduate Diploma in Accounting. She is a CPA, CA (Canada).
Job Titles:
- Chartered Accountant
- Head of Technical of the South African Accounting Standards Board
Elizna van der Westhuizen is a qualified Chartered Accountant (SA) with more than fifteen years experience in the roles of private and public sector auditor (PwC and the Auditor-General South Africa), technical specialist in public sector accounting, reporting and auditing (Auditor-General South Africa), and public sector standard-setter (South African Accounting Standards Board).
As the Head of Technical of the South African Accounting Standards Board, Elizna is currently leading the team that develops accrual based public sector accounting standards in South Africa.
Elizna serves on the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants' private sector technical accounting committee and public sector committee.
Elizna has consulted South African stakeholders on many of the IPSASB's distinguished projects in recent years, including revenue, transfer expenses and parts of the measurement project.
Job Titles:
- Technical Advisor
- Fellow of ICAEW and Graduated With a
- Senior Technical Manager
- UK Member
Henning Diederichs became the Technical Advisor to the UK member of IPSASB in January 2019. He was nominated by the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (CCAB), an umbrella group of chartered professional bodies of British qualified chartered accountants (ICAEW, ACCA, CIPFA, ICAS and Chartered Accountants Ireland).
Mr. Diederichs is a senior technical manager, specializing in public sector financial and non-financial reporting at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). His role includes supporting the UK Ministry of Finance in their application of the TCFD (Task Force on Climate related Financial Disclosures) framework, reviewing the capitals approach (Capitals Coalition) regarding impacts and dependencies across government and contributing to ICAEW's literature on a wide range of subjects including a comparison between IFRS and IPSAS.
Mr. Diederichs has over ten years of technical accounting experience in both the public and private sectors. Before joining ICAEW in 2015, he helped construct and implement the Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) consolidation process at the UK's Ministry of Finance, specializing in intra-governmental transactions and balances. Prior to that he worked for Barclays PLC in their group finance division covering areas such as goodwill, credit risk, joint ventures and associates.
Mr. Diederichs is a fellow of ICAEW and graduated with a BA in economics from the University of Essex (UK).
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Can Public Sector Accountants Help Save the World? Yes We Can - and Here 's Why. Jul 28, 2021
- Chairman of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board
- COVID - 19: Urgent Government Finance Reforms Essential for a Sustainable Future
- IPSASB Chair
Ian Carruthers became Chair of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) in 2016, having been a Board Member since 2010. As a Board Member he led IPSASB's work on Long Term Financial Sustainability and alignment between IPSASs and Government Finance Statistics. Ian is now in his third term as IPSASB Chair, which runs until the end of 2025.
After joining HM Treasury from PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1999, Ian played a key role in the UK Government's transition from cash to accrual budgeting and reporting, in particular leading its Whole of Government Accounts program. He joined CIPFA in 2006. As part-time Chair, CIPFA Standards, Ian has been involved in all aspects of the Institute's guidance development activities, including leading its work on the development of the International Framework for Good Governance in the Public Sector in partnership with IFAC.
His Technical Advisor is David Watkins.
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John Stanford is currently working on the limited scope update of the Conceptual Framework.
Prior to that, John was Technical Director of International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB), initially on an acting basis, between April 2015 and March 2020. Responsible for management and delivery of IPSASB's work program and, in conjunction with the IPSASB Chair, planning IPSASB's outreach program. John joined the IPSASB staff in April 2005 and was appointed Deputy Director of IPSASB in July 2008.
John was a member of the IFRS Advisory Council between January 2016 and December 2018 and was a member of the European Union Advisory Group of Experts on Accounting Standards from 2006 until 2021.
Jonah Wala joined the IPSASB as a member in January 2023. He was nominated by Public Sector Accounting Standards Board in Kenya.
Mr. Wala has been on the forefront of championing public sector reforms in the public space over the last 25 years. He is the Director Accounting Services at the National Treasury and represents the Cabinet Secretary at the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya Council. CPA FA Jonah Wala leads a Technical Committee in transitioning the country from cash basis to accrual basis of accounting. Mr. Wala sits in various other Boards including Dairy Board of Kenya, Registration of Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya where he is the Registrar, Institute of Certified Investment and Financial Analyst (serves in the Audit Committee) Kenya Law Reports, a co-opted member of the Public Sector Accounting Standards Board, and chairs the interim Technical and Executive Committees of the Africa Association of Accountant Generals. He also is a member of the Africa Professionalization Initiative Academic Advisory Board creating an online platform for competency development of accountants in the Public Sector.
He holds a Master degree in Banking and Finance and is pursuing a PhD in Management from the Case Western Reserve University, US.
João Fonseca is a Principal responsible for standards development at the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB). In his position, he provides technical support to the IPSASB's projects and initiatives and works closely with Task Forces, IPSASB members, and Technical Advisors to deliver the IPSASB's work program. He is currently the lead staff on the IPSASB's Leases project, member of the International Monetary Fund Advisory Committee on Government Finance Statistics, observer of the Advisory Expert Group on National Accounts of the Intersecretariat Working Group on National Accounts of the United Nations Statistical Commission, member of the OECD Expert Group on Natural Capital and is the IPSASB's representative in the task teams related to the update of the International Statistical Standards.
Prior to joining the IPSAB, he was a Statistician at the National Accounts Department of Statistics Portugal and a member of the Portuguese Accounting Standards Board. Before that, João held a number of positions in both public and private sectors, including macroeconomic analyst at the Ministry of Economy, auditor at the Ministry of Finance, and accountant in several major corporations.
João holds a PhD in Economics from Aveiro University (Portugal) and a Master's degree in Administration and Public Policies from ISCTE - Lisbon University Institute (Portugal) and is a Certified Accountant member of the Order of Certified Accountants (Portugal).
Job Titles:
- Head of Office Administration and Events
Job Titles:
- Comptroller & Auditor General
- Member of IPSASB
Lynn Pamment was appointed as a member of IPSASB in January 2019. She was nominated by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA).
Ms. Pamment is Comptroller & Auditor General for Jersey, an appointment she took up in January 2020. Prior to her appointment in Jersey she was a lead partner in PwC UK's Government and Public Sector Assurance practice where she gained over 30 years experience of working in an assurance and advisory capacity with public and private sector organisations in the UK and beyond.
Ms. Pamment is a first class honours graduate from the University College Cardiff. She is a prize winning member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and is also a member of CIPFA.
Ms. Pamment has led a number of high profile reviews on behalf of the Government in Wales. She is also the Chair of the Financial Reporting Advisory Board to HM Treasury in the UK.
Her Technical Advisor is Henning Diederichs.
Job Titles:
- Technical Advisor for Claudia Beier
Marc Wermuth became a technical advisor for Claudia Beier, IPSAS board member of Switzerland, in January 2022. His assignment is sponsored by the Swiss Federal Finance Administration (FFA). He previously served as a board member of IPSASB from 2016 to 2021. From 2014 to 2015 he was the technical advisor of the former Chair, Prof. Dr. Andreas Bergmann.
Marc Wermuth works for the Fiscal Policy, Fiscal Equalization and Financial Statistics division of the FFA where he is responsible for methodological issues concerning the general government sector financial statistics of Switzerland (Federal Government, Cantons, Municipalities and Social insurances).
Previously, he served within FFA as a senior accounting policy advisor, where he was responsible for the development and implementation of accounting policies based on IPSAS within the Swiss Confederation and has been involved in various fields aimed at enhancing the accountability and reporting of the administrative units.
Mr. Wermuth graduated from the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland with a Master's Degree in Accounting and Finance in 2004. He holds a diploma as a certified IFRS Accountant.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Chair
- Professor of Practice and Director of the Master of Accounting Program
Mr. D. Scott Showalter joined the IPSASB Board in January 2020, nominated by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Mr. Showalter is a Professor of Practice and Director of the Master of Accounting Program in the Poole College of Management at North Carolina State University. Prior to joining the faculty in 2008, Mr. Showalter was an audit partner with KPMG LLP, where he retired after a 33-year career. During his career with KPMG, he provided audit and consulting services to large Federal, state and local governments.
Mr. Showalter is the former chair and Board member of the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) where he completed his 10-year term in June 2019. He is the past chair of the Board of the North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants and a current member of the AICPA Board of Directors. He also served two terms as a member of the Standing Advisory Group to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. He has served in numerous leaderships positions in the American Accounting Association.
Mr. Showalter earned a BS degree in accounting, Summa Cum Laude, from the University of Richmond and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants. He is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (active) and Chartered Global Management Accountant.
Job Titles:
- Engineer
- Member of the Board
Mr. Hervé-Adrien Metzger was appointed as IPSAS Board Member in January 2021, nominated by the Conseil Supérieur de l'Ordre des experts-comptables and the Compagnie Nationale des Commissaires aux comptes of France.
Mr. Metzger joined the Cour des comptes, the French Supreme Audit Institution, in 1990 following a previous career as a naval officer (admin, financial and legal) which he retired with the grade of Captain (N). He was appointed as Senior Judge in 2006. His areas of expertise are in education, culture and defence as he served as the lead advisor for economic and financial affairs in the private office of the Minister of Defence in 1997. Since 1993, Mr. Metzger has been particularly involved in financial and performance auditing of many international organisations, including but not limited to, the International Criminal Court (ICC); the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); the Western European Union (WEU); the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO); and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT). He also served four years on the International Board of Auditors for NATO of which he is a past chairman.
Mr. Metzger is a trained engineer (Ecole Polytechnique of France), lawyer and auditor. He was a recipient of the Legion of Honor in 2001 and received the decoration of Officer in the French National order of Merit and of Knight in the Order of Arts and Literature.
His Technical Advisor is Baudouin Griton.
Job Titles:
- Technical Partner at Deloitte China
Ms. Liang Yang joined IPSASB in January 2022, as a self-nominee, supported by the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CICPA).
Ms. Yang is a technical partner at Deloitte China, with over 20 years of auditing and professional advisory experiences with international accounting firms serving public and private sector entities in China and beyond. Ms. Yang served as a member of the Government Accounting Standards Board of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) of China in 2016-2019, and is a member of the Accounting Standards for Business Enterprises Advisory Committee of the MoF of China from 2016 to present.
Ms. Yang graduated from Fudan University with a Bachelor's degree in Economics, and earned a Master degree of Science in Professional Accountancy at University of London. Ms. Yang is a senior member of the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CICPA), and a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).
Her Technical Advisor is Qiang Zhang
Job Titles:
- Member of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board
Patricia Siqueira Varela became a member of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board in January 2020. She was nominated by the Conselho Federal de Contabilidade (CFC), responsible for the regulation and representation of accounting professionals in Brazil.
Prof. Varela is currently a researcher and a professor at the University of São Paulo (Brazil) in the School of Economics, Business and Accounting. She has supervised students in the Program of Postgraduate Studies in Controllership and Accounting and is the leader of the research group Center of Studies in Accounting and Government. Her research and publications focus on public sector accounting and public policies performance.
Prof. Varela also performs the role of standard-setter as a member of both the Advisory Group for the Brazilian Accounting Standards for the Public Sector Accounting at Conselho Federal de Contabilidade and the Technical Committee linked to the National Treasury which is responsible for issuing mandatory standards for public sector entities in all federation levels (municipalities, states and central government).
Prof. Varela holds a master's and a doctor's degree in Controllership and Accounting from the University of São Paulo, and a postdoctoral degree in Public Administration and Government from the Getúlio Vargas Foundation in São Paulo.
Renée Pichard, CPA, became a member of the IPSASB in January 2021. She was nominated by CPA Canada. Ms. Pichard is a partner at Deloitte Canada and a leader in the Public Sector Assurance practice. With 30 years of financial management, accounting advisory and executive leadership experience, she leverages her expertise to help public sector organizations navigate through change and improve their ability to provide reliable financial and sustainability related information. Prior to joining Deloitte, Ms. Pichard held the position of Assistant Auditor General at the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, where she spent 17 years developing expertise in advising public sector clients on complex accounting transactions under IFRS as well as Canadian and International Public Sector Accounting Standards.
Previously, Ms. Pichard spent the first part of her career as an auditor at Deloitte and as Director, Corporate Finance for a global public telecommunication corporation.
Ms. Pichard was a technical advisor with the IPSASB between 2013 and 2019. She has also contributed to the establishment of auditing and accounting standards in Canada as a member of various task forces.
Mrs. Pichard graduated from the Université du Québec en Outaouais in 1993 and received her accounting designation in 1995.
Her Technical Advisor is Sayja Barton.
Job Titles:
- IPSASB Program and Technical Director
- Program and Technical Director
Vanessa Mello is the assistant of the IPSASB Chair, Ian Carruthers. She is also responsible for supporting the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) and the IPSASB Consultative Advisory Group (CAG) in all administrative matters. She started in 2018 and she is based in the Toronto office.
Prior to joining the IPSASB, Vanessa worked as an assistant in many law and accounting firms such as PwC Toronto working as a partner assistant in Tax, Global Mobility Services for several years.
Vanessa was an English teacher in Brazil and holds a Paralegal diploma from Herzing College in Toronto. She is fluent in Portuguese and can also speak Spanish.
I believe in what I do and see an importance to the IPSASB. I think it's important that governments around the world have standards that they can apply that help citizens make decisions and evaluate how decision-makers are performing.