The ability to sift through the entrails of complex financial transactions is one of the traits the Australian Accounting Standards Board is looking for as it searches for new board members.

A recent call for new board members to fill three vacancies was posted by the Financial Reporting Council with a wish list of the various skill sets the board is after.

The advertisement has a raft of standard operating features that it wants from board members, including understanding the board’s legal functions; the ability to work in a collegiate environment; and appreciation of overall public good in relation to vested or conflicted interest.

It is also flagging it is desirable that there be a person from partner level in a small, medium or large accounting practice, somebody with public sector experience or an individual with a skill set that will help the board with issues in corporate, public sector and charity financial reporting.

“Expertise in financial instruments, external reporting (eg remuneration, management commentary, service performance reporting), valuation of non-financial assets, digitalization and/or artificial intelligence would be valuable,” the advertisement notes.

The AASB has also recently issued guidance in the vexed area of underpayment of workers following the spate of large and small companies that have failed to pay their employees appropriately.

Guidance issued by the board covers the specific year in which underpayment must be recorded and also what a company must do in relation to disclosure.