Today’s auditor faces unprecedented challenges, as well as unique opportunities. We explore each of these in turn, including how forward-thinking auditors can leverage technologies like AI to accelerate audit and uncover value.
Challenges
The business world has evolved tremendously over the last few years. Interconnectedness and the rate of change have shot up, while the downward pressure on fees and time is being felt across the board. Four major pain points stand out:
1. Risk of errors
Standards like ASC 842 and ASC 606 (IFRS 15 and IFRS 16) have introduced a new way to relate to internal workflows and external audits. The risk of misstatements is higher than ever.
2. Working in silos
Auditors frequently operate in isolated silos, resulting in inconsistent financial reporting across different departments and entities. As Shaun Willcocks, PwC’s Global Internal Audit Leader puts it, “Many organizations still have functional silos that are rigid and hard to traverse, information and data that is difficult to access or trust, and communication gaps that are behavioral and tough to change.”
3. The labor shortage
There is a notable shortage of skilled labor in the auditing profession, making it challenging to attract and retain high-quality talent. In fact, under 1% of small or medium-sized firms are able to find and attract the talent they require.
4. Repetitive manual tasks
Auditors still spend a considerable amount of time on repetitive manual tasks, which limits their ability to provide strategic value to clients. As highlighted in a recent Fortune Brand Studio article, auditors are frequently mired in time0consuming manual processes. These tasks not only consume valuable hours but also restrict their cpacaity to focus on delivering strategic insights and value to their cliinets. For a deeper dive into how these manual tasks impact auditors’ efficiency, check out the full article here.
3 ways to accelerate audit through AI
Leading audit firms have learned how to harness the power of AI to solve these challenges. For example, AI can be used for conducting journal entry testing, or in streamlining repetitive tasks.
Trullion’s AI-powered platform for auditors enables audit teams to utilize AI to unlock their full potential. Here are 3 ways you can benefit immediately by accelerating your audit:
1. Ensure unparalleled accuracy
Trullion’s AI-driven quality control and automated matching ensure the highest level of accuracy in your financial statements. It ensures precise and reliable financial data, reducing errors and enhancing confidence.
Benefits:
- Automated data reconciliation and financial statement reviews: Implement AI-driven matching exercises for use cases like Test of Details that reduce manual vouching and tracing efforts. Define simple logic, and let our AI handle the rest. Automate the review process for year-end financial statements to ensure accuracy and consistency across documents and iterations.
2. Encourage improved collaboration
Unite your audit team on a single platform for real-time collaboration from anywhere. Seamlessly collaborate with clients across different time zones and locations, including international offshoring.
Benefits:
- Custom templates and one-click uploads: Create and share custom templates across the entire company, streamlining processes and eliminating the need to develop unique logic for each use case. With seamless Suralink connectivity, upload evidence directly into Suralink and automatically sync it with Trullion, removing the hassle of duplicate uploads and ensuring efficient data management.
3. Drive efficiency and time savings
Leverage AI-powered data extraction to convert unstructured data into structured Excel formats, streamline document handling, and save time. Increase efficiency with automated document matching and AI-driven quality control.
Benefits:
- AI-powered data extraction and matching:
Audit Suite by Trullion Trullion’s Audit Suite uses automated data extraction with advanced OCR, computer vision, and Guidepoint technology for fast text search. Now you can pull embedded tables from all kinds of data, retrieve fields like purchase order numbers, and summarize and translate documents in multiple languages. Now, instantly validate transactions and balances against their source data, including automatic document matching, making audit processes smoother and more efficient.
Conclusion: the future of audit is here
Auditors globally have already implemented Trullion’s solution. For example, leading U.S. audit firm GRF CPAs & Advisors (GRF) deployed Trullion’s AI-powered audit tools, with phenomenal results.
Tricia Katebini, CPA Partner at GRF, noted regarding Trullion’s Test of Details module that “Workflow time was reduced by 40%, and I anticipate 50%-90% time savings in the near future.”
With Trullion, audit firms can break down silos, enhance collaboration between auditors and accountants, and improve efficiency – doing more with less resources, and getting time back to add strategic value.
