19JULY 2019In today's business environment, where the quantity of data is increasing exponentially, advanced technologies are playing a greater role in corporate financial reporting and external audits. The audit profession must embrace digital tools such as workflow automation, robotics, and cognitive technologies in response to the coming avalanche of data.At its core, the work of audit professionals is fundamentally about enabling trust in the capital markets. For the capital markets to operate effectively, there must be integrity and confidence in the financial reporting system. As companies automate more accounting functions and incorporate blockchain into business functions, and cybersecurity becomes more critical, auditors can instill trust, and confidence in the future by fundamentally changing the way audits are performed. New technologies are needed to audit blockchains and to quickly sift through volumes of fully automated transactional data. The rise of the humansThe journey toward building trusted, tech-savvy audit teams starts with finding the right people. While technology continues to disrupt all aspects of the business landscape, it is the people and their skills that make the difference. The profession must develop innovative ways to attract and retain exceptional talent that is diverse in thought and skills. Tomorrow's auditors need skills in information technology, cybersecurity, and data and analytics, not just accounting. Technology enables auditorsAdvanced technologies make it possible for auditors to analyze larger volumes of both structured data, which exists neatly in rows and columns, and unstructured data such as e-mails, free-text documents, presentations, and web pages. The ability to blend and analyze both types of data enhances auditors' ability to identify anomalies while providing deeper insights into risks, processes, and controls.Technology provides an opportunity to automate how the profession gathers evidence to form an audit opinion. For example, data produced by automobiles may offer information on performance, maintenance requirements, and repairs that also may be analyzed to better assess the risk of a company's warranty obligations. Other examples include the following:· Digital automation tools--including workflow automation, robotic process automation (RPA), and other data and analytics tools--can analyze up to 100 percent of data populations to facilitate more robust audit analysis. This may lead to the identification of outliers, allowing auditors to dig deeper into exceptions. The tools augment professional judgment and enhance decision-making. The ability to examine an entire population enhances an auditor's ability to provide a more complete understanding of a client's underlying processes and transaction flows, leading to a better risk assessment and a smoother audit planning phase. By John Ebner, National Managing Partner ­ Audit, & Roger O'Donnell, Audit Partner, Global Data & Analytics Lead, KPMG LLPCXOINSIGHTSCXOINSIGHTSEnhanced Technology in the AuditJohn Ebner
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