Barry C. Melancon is the CEO of the Association of
International Certified Professional Accountants, the most influential body of
professional accountants in the world with 650,000 members and students. Formed
in 2017, it combines the strengths of The Chartered Institute of Management
Accountants (CIMA) and the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), which Melancon
also leads as President & CEO.
Melancon joined the AICPA in 1995 when he was 37 years old, and is now the
longest serving CEO in the organization’s 129 year history. Under his tenure,
the AICPA has grown to become the largest membership body of CPAs in the world
and has spearheaded a number of initiatives to benefit not only the profession,
but also investors, business owners, lenders and the general public. These
include audit quality centers; private company reporting standards; eXtensible
Business Reporting Language (XBRL); the computerized CPA exam; and two consumer
financial literacy education programs.
Under Melancon’s leadership in 2011, the AICPA formed a joint venture with
CIMA to elevate management accounting globally. They created the Chartered
Global Management Accountant (CGMA) designation for those professionals who meet
the highest benchmark of rigor and quality. Today, approximately 150,000
professionals hold the CGMA designation worldwide. Building on this success,
AICPA and CIMA members in June 2016 voted to evolve the joint venture into the
Association. Its mission is to drive a dynamic accounting profession around the
world that powers trust, opportunity and prosperity. Melancon was named the
Association’s first CEO.
Melancon is also Global Chairman of the Board of the International Integrated
Reporting Council (IIRC), Chairman of XBRL-US, and a founding and current board
member of both the Global Accounting Alliance (GAA) and the Center for Audit
Quality (CAQ). He is a founding and current board member of the Government
Transformation Initiative, serves on the board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s
Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness, and is a member of the delegation to
the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). During 2007-2008, Melancon
served on the U.S. Department of the Treasury Advisory Committee on the Auditing
Profession.
Melancon has testified for the profession before Congress numerous times, has
been honored with many awards, including the 2011 National Association Executive
of the Year.
Prior to joining the AICPA, Melancon served for eight years as Executive
Director of the Society of Louisiana CPAs. He began his accounting career in
1979 at a small CPA firm in Louisiana. In 1984, he was elected a firm partner.
Melancon graduated in 1978 from Nicholls State University in Louisiana, majoring
in accounting with a minor in government. He also earned an MBA in 1983 from
Nicholls State University and subsequently served as an adjunct professor of
accounting at his alma mater for four years. He was also awarded his alma
mater’s first and only Honorary Doctorate of Commerce in 2008.