Dive Brief:

• Hillary H. Salo — already poised to extend women’s historic majority on the Financial Accounting Standards Board when she joins this summer — will also serve as the board’s first female vice chair, the Board of Trustees of the Financial Accounting Foundation announced in a release Friday. Salo will take the vice chair role when she starts her five-year term July 1.
• The Board of Trustees’ decision to appoint Salo as vice chair on the seven-member board marks the first time in the FASB’s 50-plus-year history that a woman has held the post, a FAF spokesperson confirmed. Early in her career, Salo spent a year on the FASB board before working for the Big Four accounting firm KPMG, where she rose to partner. She then rejoined the FASB in 2020 to serve as technical director and chair of the Emerging Issues Task Force, according to the release and her LinkedIn profile.
• “When we hired Hillary as technical director four years ago, we were looking for someone with outstanding experience at the highest levels of professional accounting as well as strong leadership skills,” FASB Chair Richard R. Jones said in a statement in the release. “Hillary has demonstrated strength in both of these areas, and I’m very pleased to have her bring this great set of skills and experience to the FASB as vice chair.”

Dive Insight:

Salo’s appointment continues an ongoing shift toward female representation on the board that has been underway for some time. Salo will succeed current FASB Vice Chair James L. Kroeker, who will conclude his time on the board June 30.  

Salo’s arrival and Kroeker’s departure will bring the total number of women FASB members to five, with men numbering two. When Joyce Joseph joined the FASB last July, it marked the first time that women outnumbered men on the FASB. 

A FAF spokesperson told CFO Dive Salo was the top candidate for the vice chair role irrespective of gender.

“When appointing FASB members and leaders, the FAF Trustees seek diverse perspectives and the strongest qualifications. Hillary brings both to the table and was the natural choice for this important leadership role,” the spokesperson said in an emailed response to questions. 

At the same time, choosing a new member and vice chair who is a veteran of the FASB culture could be an impactful choice given the scrutiny that the board’s processes have drawn.  

The FASB under Chair Jones has sought to be more responsive to feedback on its rule-setting process. It has drawn criticism from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advisory Committee, which recommended a review of the FASB rule-setting process and called out the slow rate at which the board was tackling major standard changes, CFO Dive previously reported.

Salo has deep experience in both accounting regulation and accounting practice. In her first stint at KPMG, she first severed as manager, transaction services from 2004 to 2007 and then held the title of senior manager, department of professional practice from 2007 to 2013. She then spent a little over two years as a professional accounting fellow at the SEC before returning to KPMG, where she was a partner, audit and department of professional practice from 2015-2020, according to LinkedIn. 

Salo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.