Audit profession must evolve and change to remain relevant

The publication consisted of a series of candid, personal interviews with 16 of KPMG’s audit leaders from around the world.

KPMG global leaders have participated in interviews which delve into the current reality facing the audit function and profession.

Interviewees share their opinions on changes needed to help make the audit function more valuable.

“As auditors, our primary product is based on a historical set of statutory financial statements,” said KP Chong, head of Audit of KPMG Vietnam and Cambodia. “Auditors have broader access to a company than almost any other entity or profession.  We are in a unique position to deliver more than a pass/fail report. I think what we’re finding is delivering this kind of report is not providing investors with all of the insight that they need in order to make their investment decisions.”

KPMG welcomes the recent proposals from the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) to expand the auditor’s report to give increased information on the matters the auditor determined to be of most significance in the audit.

The IAASB's proposals are an important first step towards better meeting the needs of users who want more insight into the audit that was performed than is possible under the current reporting model.

“Technology has greatly improved the efficiency of the audit. Looking into the medium term, we are very excited about how we can use data analytics to help identify problems that more traditional techniques might not,” said Larry Leva, global vice-chairman, Quality and Risk Management, KPMG International, one of the interviewees.