The Alta Group appointed John Bober to the role of director. Bober assumed his role on Dec. 5.

Bober joined Alta from IXL Lease Advisory Services, where he was a managing member of the firm and a specialist in matters related to leasing, lease accounting, project finance investments and financial reporting. Prior to his tenure with IXL, Bober spent 23 years with GE Capital, where he primarily focused on vendor finance arrangements and the leasing of equipment as well as managing all aspects of General Electric Company’s Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) lease accounting project. In addition, Bober held a variety of management positions in finance at GE Capital, and he led teams responsible for the analysis of economic returns from equity and debt investments, project financings, partnerships and large-ticket leases, including lease pricing.

“While John is well known in the industry for his accounting expertise, he has extensive operational and management experience, which makes him an ideal resource for our clients in a variety of areas, including lease accounting,” Valerie L. Gerard, Alta’s senior managing director and practice leader of strategy and competitive alignment, said. “Clearly he’s bringing tremendous expertise to Alta.”

“Leasing and equipment finance is a dynamic and engaging world, and I enjoy consulting on lease accounting, pricing and operations,” Bober said. “My deepest experience is on the lessor side, and spending time on transactions and establishing lease programs and captive finance arrangements is where my days usually have gone. I’m looking forward to sharing what I’ve learned with The Alta Group’s clients.”

Bober chairs the accounting and reporting committee of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association. In 2014, he was the recipient of the ELFA’s Distinguished Service Award. Bober is also a member of the editorial board of Monitor.

In addition, Bober has been active in the accounting standards-setting process, having served on both the emerging issues task force and accounting standards executive committee working groups. Bober was also a member of the joint FASB and IASB international working group on lease accounting. Active in Financial Executives International, Bober is the past chair of that organization’s leases working group. He also served as a senior consultant to Ernst & Young from 2018 to 2020. Prior to joining GE, Bober was a partner with an international accounting firm based in Jakarta, Indonesia, and New York. He speaks at industry conferences on matters related to current developments in finance and accounting.