When I tell people I’m an auditor, most people make a joke about me using a green pen (apparently auditors in banks used green pens so everyone knew an auditor had ticked/marked a document).
Fast forward 20+ years and the world of the auditor is now completely different. Gone is the day of the old part-time auditor (mostly a tax professional who dabbled in audit). They have been replaced by young, 聪明的, 以就业为导向的人, with a unique skill set – capable of dealing with big data, 它精明的, with strong interpersonal skills and the ability to challenge and be skeptical. These auditors need to combine technical issues with judgment and skepticism, and are able to balance attention to detail whilst considering the big picture of the financial report as a whole (sometimes referred to as Materiality).
Could your audit be performed by a robot by 2025?
Fast forward even more and 在那里’s talk that auditors could – in effect – be replaced by robots. The World Economic Forum undertook a “Technological Tipping Points” survey in 2015 when 800 executives were asked when they thought that “30 percent of corporate audits would be performed by AI (artificial intelligence).” Seventy-five percent of the respondents thought that this particular tipping point would be reached by 2025. 有些偏颇，我不敢苟同.
Software can perform a lot of the mundane tasks of an audit, such as checking debits and credits, authorisations and manual 工作 previously handed to the poor newbie auditor (I recall my first few years as an auditor and shiver!). But how far will software take us though? AI is able to assist us, but it’s driven by code 写 by programmers. An audit is based on a skeptical mindset, meaning that we challenge what is put to us.
人工智能软件的局限性
We need to consider the strength and reliability of the audit evidence (verbal, 写, 外部/内部等), 以及它与问题的相关性. Only a human can think through how certain issues, disclosures and financial statements have been created. Are relevant 澳门赌场官网 policies appropriate to the entity, what 不是 included in the financials, do warranties and provisions appear adequate, 是否存在欺诈?, 这些假设合理吗?, do the numbers comply with the relevant 澳门赌场官网 standard? 等等.......
I 在那里fore wonder how far software will venture into these subjective, judgment-based areas.
确定, software can grab data feeds and check that income, franking credits etc match those in the bank feed…but can it determine if a transaction is at arms-length, 关联方是否存在, or whether the valuation of goodwill is appropriate? 软件将如何告诉我们什么 不是 在那里?
Qualities that the future auditor will need
The Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand recently released a short video on the future auditor, whose qualities include being a watchdog, 专业的怀疑, 独立的, 道德, 解决问题的人, 动力, 跨文化, 语言学家, 战略思想家, 创新者, 中介, 讲故事和变戏法! This just shows us how the world of the auditor has changed.
I don’t see AI as the death of the auditor. (I’ve never seen a computer juggle…….然而,!) But I do see it reducing the number of auditors, and pushing many outside their comfort zone. Those who thrive will be the ones who actively embrace the potential of AI, rather than shying away from the uncertainties of this new technology.
