Gillian Bowen, Host: Hello, my name is Gillian Bowen. This is Small Firm,
Gillian Bowen, Host: Big Impact.
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: We need to track advancement ...keep ourselves ready for the
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: new developments. We need to work together to ensure the
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: new technologies are implemented effectively and ethically.
Steven Watson, FCA: I think one of the biggest challenges is the necessary skills, um,
Steven Watson, FCA: within the workforce and also time and capacity.
Gillian Bowen, Host: It's the podcast giving Chartered Accountants the up to date
Gillian Bowen, Host: information they need to do their jobs. Each episode I
Gillian Bowen, Host: share resources, tools and expert advice provided by Chartered Accountants
Gillian Bowen, Host: Australia and New Zealand and a range of people across
Gillian Bowen, Host: our profession. So get following the pod in your favourite
Gillian Bowen, Host: podcast app. Let's start a conversation. Today we have Steven Watson,
Gillian Bowen, Host: Managing Director at National Audits Group, and Masood Mahmood, Senior
Gillian Bowen, Host: Policy Advocate in the audit and assurance team at Chartered
Gillian Bowen, Host: Accountants Australia and New Zealand. The topic: the cutting edge
Gillian Bowen, Host: advancements transforming the audit profession. We're going to dive into
Gillian Bowen, Host: the world of advanced technologies in audit, which includes discussing
Gillian Bowen, Host: how AI, automation and other innovative tools are revolutionising the
Gillian Bowen, Host: audit process and enhancing efficiency and ensuring higher quality outcomes.
Gillian Bowen, Host: We're going to look at the opportunities and challenges for
Gillian Bowen, Host: audit firms, especially smaller size practices, and unpack how to
Gillian Bowen, Host: stay competitive. And as usual on my podcast episodes, we're
Gillian Bowen, Host: going to highlight a new CA ANZ resource The audit
Gillian Bowen, Host: and technology playbook A practitioner's guide. Steven and Masood welcome
Gillian Bowen, Host: to Small Firm, Big Impact.
Steven Watson, FCA: Thanks for having me today. It's great to be here.
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: Thanks, Gill.
Gillian Bowen, Host: Okay. This is going to be a really interesting discussion.
Gillian Bowen, Host: And to help set it up, Masood I thought I'd talk
Gillian Bowen, Host: to you first. Can you give us an overview of
Gillian Bowen, Host: the advanced technologies currently being used in audits?
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: Thanks, Gill. Honestly, the audit profession is really stepping up,
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: tapping into some amazing technologies. This is transforming into efficient audit,
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: smarter insights and greater impacts. Let's start with artificial intelligence
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: and machine learning. These are absolutely excelling in predictive analytics
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: and detecting anomalies. It's a game changer. Then we have cybersecurity.
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: It's massive, huge focus right now with the growing cyber
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: threat on the rise, everyone knows why it's important. So
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: you need to be having a best tech on your side.
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: Next is the Internet of Things. Imagine all smart devices
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: talking to each other, moving data in real time. No
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: human hands needed. This is like a whole system thinking
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: on its own. Then there is robotic process automation, which
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: uses software bots for repetitive tasks, freeing human resources for
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: a better and useful work. Next, we have blockchain technology.
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: This ensures secure and transparent transaction. This is like a
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: tamper proof digital ledger. Lastly, big data and analytics are
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: truly amazing for uncovering trends and patterns in huge data sets,
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: giving us deeper insight into business operations. Bottom line, auditing
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: is moving fast and it's leading the change.
Gillian Bowen, Host: Mhm. Mhm. Okay then Steven to you from your perspective
Gillian Bowen, Host: how are these technologies that, the ones that Masood's talking about,
Gillian Bowen, Host: how are they transforming the audit process?
Steven Watson, FCA: Um I might just talk about the, I suppose practical
Steven Watson, FCA: technologies from a client communication and management perspective and how
Steven Watson, FCA: they have really transformed the audit to and client relationship, um,
Steven Watson, FCA: and allows things to be really streamlined, um, and to
Steven Watson, FCA: be able to get access to the client data in
Steven Watson, FCA: real time, um, instead of a static data set. We're
Steven Watson, FCA: able to access that data and look at the data sets, um,
Steven Watson, FCA: turn unstructured data into very structured data so that we
Steven Watson, FCA: can analyze that and determine our audit techniques and processes
Steven Watson, FCA: quite efficiently. We've also adapted the use of artificial intelligence
Steven Watson, FCA: when it comes to Gen AI, and how that's being
Steven Watson, FCA: used in the audit assessment from a risk perspective, but
Steven Watson, FCA: also a planning perspective and allowing our auditors to really
Steven Watson, FCA: understand the client at their environment and how they can
Steven Watson, FCA: determine the specific risks to address as part of the
Steven Watson, FCA: audit process.
Gillian Bowen, Host: Mhm. Okay. All right. So then Masood, back to you
Gillian Bowen, Host: in in what ways have advanced technologies improved the quality
Gillian Bowen, Host: and accuracy of the output?
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: It's fascinating, Gill, how audit has evolved over the years due
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: to the advanced technologies. First off, smart software, AI and
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: machine learning, it's helping to reduce the manual errors instead
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: of human combing through endless data manually, AI can analyse
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: massive set of data, instantly spotting patterns and red flags
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: and variations. So this would have easily slipped through the
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: cracks before. We've got optical character recognition technology, which is
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: transforming the messy, time consuming data entry task. So we
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: don't need to retype scan documents and it doesn't stop there.
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: Data analytics tools are giving auditors real time insights into
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: client operations, not just surface level checks, but deep dives,
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: strength in fraud detection and risk assessment. AI and machine
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: learning tools even learn from their data over time, meaning
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: their accuracy keeps getting sharper every time on every engagement.
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: On top of that, as Steven mentioned, Gen AI and
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: natural language processing tools are transforming research and compliance work.
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: This will help us to access the standards, regulations and
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: best practices. Is now faster and more precise. And let's
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: not forget about the cloud technology. With real time teamwork
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: and data sharing, we are cutting down on miscommunications, lost
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: files and version control issues, all of which takes so
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: much of time. So better tool, sharper insights and stronger outcomes.
Gillian Bowen, Host: I like that aspect as well. Of cutting down the
Gillian Bowen, Host: manual are bits and pieces that people are having to
Gillian Bowen, Host: do then. So, Steven, can you share some specific examples
Gillian Bowen, Host: or case studies perhaps where this technology has made a
Gillian Bowen, Host: significant difference?
Steven Watson, FCA: Yeah, I certainly can. I can probably give you two examples,
Steven Watson, FCA: and it's really driven by the data from the revenue
Steven Watson, FCA: of our clients. So one example is an alcohol retailer
Steven Watson, FCA: and it's basically a marketer across a group. There's 2800
Steven Watson, FCA: outlets across Australia and them getting access to their point
Steven Watson, FCA: of sale data on a timely basis, which drives their revenue.
Steven Watson, FCA: It gives them the insights and the tools that they
Steven Watson, FCA: need to be able to reconcile their revenue data and
Steven Watson, FCA: also make decisions based on that from our perspective as
Steven Watson, FCA: an auditor, um, looking at the controls surrounding that data, um,
Steven Watson, FCA: and the timeliness of it, because they basically moved from,
Steven Watson, FCA: I think it was six weeks to reconcile their data
Steven Watson, FCA: after month end to basically three days, um, just because
Steven Watson, FCA: the technology that they've adopted. And I probably just wanted
Steven Watson, FCA: to put a point there in terms of emphasising, um,
Steven Watson, FCA: the auditors really working with their clients so that the
Steven Watson, FCA: client data is as clean and accurate as possible. Uh,
Steven Watson, FCA: another example is a roadside assistance service. Um, and they're
Steven Watson, FCA: basically dealing with a mountain of data. Um, previously they
Steven Watson, FCA: once again, it took them probably four weeks to reconcile
Steven Watson, FCA: that data after year end and basically just a matter of hours, um,
Steven Watson, FCA: after after year end. So what that gives the auditor
Steven Watson, FCA: is a lot more confidence, um, in the data coming through. Um,
Steven Watson, FCA: and we can rely on that a lot more and
Steven Watson, FCA: spend time elsewhere um, in terms of the audit process.
Gillian Bowen, Host: What's the tech they're using power BI.
Steven Watson, FCA: Okay, so Microsoft Power BI in the example of the
Steven Watson, FCA: alcohol retailer they invested, I think it was around $14
Steven Watson, FCA: million over a 4 to 5 year period about ten
Steven Watson, FCA: years ago. Basically that whole project had to be scrapped
Steven Watson, FCA: because the technology advanced that quickly. Wow. They could get
Steven Watson, FCA: access to Microsoft buy off the shelf.
Gillian Bowen, Host: Wow. Hopefully no one crashed while listening to that, those figures.
Gillian Bowen, Host: So there are risks then that that come through with
Gillian Bowen, Host: using tech. And and especially as things evolve so rapidly
Gillian Bowen, Host: as you've just talked about there, Steven, what are those
Gillian Bowen, Host: key risks associated with the use of advanced tech in
Gillian Bowen, Host: audit and and perhaps, perhaps keeping in mind that there
Gillian Bowen, Host: there could be automation bias or overreliance on the technology?
Steven Watson, FCA: Yeah, there's certainly security risks over the data. Um, and
Steven Watson, FCA: I'd probably recommend that all firms really make that a
Steven Watson, FCA: priority in terms of their cybersecurity at the firm level,
Steven Watson, FCA: but also make significant recommendations through their audit, management letters
Steven Watson, FCA: and communications with relevant boards or management that they need
Steven Watson, FCA: to address that cybersecurity threat and bring in consultants, whether
Steven Watson, FCA: firms have got those expertise in-house, or recommend outside consultants
Steven Watson, FCA: to come in and strengthen the security around that data
Steven Watson, FCA: in terms of information bias or from the the technology.
Steven Watson, FCA: I think there's got to be a level of professional
Steven Watson, FCA: skepticism over the the data that's coming through and the
Steven Watson, FCA: information and really questioning the or placing reliance on the data.
Steven Watson, FCA: So you really need to look at the controls around
Steven Watson, FCA: how that data is compiled, how how it's accessed, and
Steven Watson, FCA: basically how it's reported. And over time, you can build
Steven Watson, FCA: that reliance up by by looking at those specific controls.
Gillian Bowen, Host: Um, we would no doubt have some resources on cyber
Gillian Bowen, Host: security that our members can access. So I will track
Gillian Bowen, Host: down some links to, uh, bits and pieces that are
Gillian Bowen, Host: relevant here and put them in the episode notes for
Gillian Bowen, Host: those listening along. But Masood, building on that, how can
Gillian Bowen, Host: auditors ensure that human oversight and how can they ensure
Gillian Bowen, Host: that it remains a priority while also leveraging the new tech?
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: Oh, I think it's a very important question. And if I,
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: if I, if I think about what Steven has given
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: the examples, I think it's very critical to maintain a
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: careful balance between, you know, the adoption of technologies and
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: the application of human oversight. Auditors must exercise professional skepticism
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: and sound judgment when interpreting the outputs of these technologies.
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: For instance, while AI is highly effective in progressing large
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: volumes of data, it cannot replicate the understanding, critical thinking,
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: and context driven ... insights that experience auditor bring. Auditor
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: must also be mindful of the inherent limitations of these technologies,
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: and ensuring that audit judgments are never unduly influenced by
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: flawed or incomplete information. Now, both the IAASB and IESBA
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: have recognised the existence of this automation bias as an
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: example of unconscious auditor bias that practitioners need to be
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: aware of when exercising professional judgment. Additional auditors must adhere
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: to highest ethical standards, including confidentiality, confidentiality, integrity, and objectivity.
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: And I think with the right balance of technology and
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: human insights, the future of auditing is bright and transformational.
Gillian Bowen, Host: I do love putting an IESBA link in my episode
Gillian Bowen, Host: show notes. So I will I will get those off you, Masood,
Gillian Bowen, Host: and will put them in so that they're easily accessible
Gillian Bowen, Host: for those who are listening along, if they want to refresh
Gillian Bowen, Host: their memory. Steveen, then what are some of the biggest
Gillian Bowen, Host: challenges auditors face when integrating this in this advanced tech
Gillian Bowen, Host: into their work?
Steven Watson, FCA: I think one of the biggest challenges is the necessary skills, um,
Steven Watson, FCA: within the workforce and also time and capacity, um, and
Steven Watson, FCA: to have the bandwidth to have the.
Gillian Bowen, Host: I think that's a fair word. You've got you've kind
Gillian Bowen, Host: of got to have the headspace to sit down and go, right.
Gillian Bowen, Host: What do I, what what what do I need to
Gillian Bowen, Host: learn here? What do I not know? What questions do
Gillian Bowen, Host: I need to ask?
Steven Watson, FCA: Most definitely. And with all the competing priorities and deadlines, um,
Steven Watson, FCA: it's it's quite difficult to take the time to invest. Um,
Steven Watson, FCA: so I think firms really need to have a clear strategy, um,
Steven Watson, FCA: and the capacity, um, so they need to invest in
Steven Watson, FCA: more people, resources, um, and bringing in external consultants who
Steven Watson, FCA: may have the necessary skills and resources to do it,
Steven Watson, FCA: the implementation quite efficiently and effectively. Um, on the skills side, um,
Steven Watson, FCA: I think firms really need to change their strategy in
Steven Watson, FCA: terms of, you know, what are the skill set of
Steven Watson, FCA: their auditors are and probably have more of a mindset
Steven Watson, FCA: around it, cybersecurity, but also moving into the ESG space
Steven Watson, FCA: and getting access to that data. Um, and, you know,
Steven Watson, FCA: how are we going to be able to audit that?
Steven Watson, FCA: So really need to look forward, not back, and really
Steven Watson, FCA: adapt to the new technology. Another key obstacle, um, is
Steven Watson, FCA: really the change management across the workforce. Um, and making
Steven Watson, FCA: sure that a positive light is placed on being progressive, um,
Steven Watson, FCA: across your team, um, and, you know, continually sharing those
Steven Watson, FCA: wins in terms of efficiency gains, um, you know, what
Steven Watson, FCA: it looks like in terms of working smarter, not harder.
Gillian Bowen, Host: Um, yeah. That's right. So giving a clear example of
Gillian Bowen, Host: the results of actually embracing this because it is hard
Gillian Bowen, Host: to embrace change that might blow your mind.
Steven Watson, FCA: Yeah. Most definitely.
Gillian Bowen, Host: Um, look, um, Masood then thinking of smaller practices. I mean,
Gillian Bowen, Host: they they are, um. Hello out there. They are many
Gillian Bowen, Host: of the wonderful listeners of this podcast. How can they
Gillian Bowen, Host: overcome these challenges that Steven's talking about? To fully leverage
Gillian Bowen, Host: the benefits of these new technologies?
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: Uh, I think Steven has touched on some of the
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: key points in his response. So I mean, by taking
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: a strategic approach of technology integration, smaller practices that can
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: absolutely overcome these challenges at a firm level, it's crucial
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: to establish governance and oversight for acquiring and developing and
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: then implementing and then using technologies. That means investing in
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: scalable and adaptable technologies, tools that can actually grow and
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: evolve alongside the firm. This involves confirming that technology meets
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: the requirements. I mean, you just don't blindly bring in technology.
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: You should understand and tested the technology, not for smaller practices.
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: This might not be possible. And, uh, and that's the
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: point where they need to take necessary steps to ensure
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: that the audit firm and the audit teams are in
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: control of technology being used as they are properly trained.
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: And I should also mention here that the International Standard
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: on Quality Management also outline a comprehensive framework for managing
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: quality within the audit firm. And this will definitely help.
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: The other key focus area, as Steven mentioned, is that
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: the continuous skill development that's that's the key. And remember that,
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: you know, that's the technology change is not just about system.
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: It's it's about the people as well.
Gillian Bowen, Host: Um, now there will be people listening along going, this
Gillian Bowen, Host: is all well and good, but how do I know
Gillian Bowen, Host: where do I go to start? And the good news is,
Gillian Bowen, Host: is that CA and ACCA have developed a guide, a
Gillian Bowen, Host: playbook that provides practical guidance for audit firms, especially small
Gillian Bowen, Host: and medium sized practices. So, Masood, with that in mind,
Gillian Bowen, Host: can you highlight some of the most important insights or
Gillian Bowen, Host: recommendations from the guide?
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: Absolutely. I think the playbook offers several key insights, recommendations
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: for specifically for the SMP. And I think that's the
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: great way of letting our members know that, you know,
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: this is available. The playbook outlines key technology trends that
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: are currently influencing the enterprise landscape. It also provides practical examples.
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: Some of them Steven just mentioned, and how technologies like
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: AI and machine learning and data analytics can be used
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: to improve audit outputs and efficiency. And then it talks
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: about some of the relevance to the specifically relevance to SMPs.
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: And at the end of the the the the the playbook,
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: there is a section which is most importantly, it lays
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: down the roadmap for the firms to develop a comprehensive
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: technology strategy with clear digital transformation. Now this includes, uh, again,
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: I mean, Steven mentioned a clear change management program that
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: actually aligns with their own technology technology strategy, and it
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: involves staff in key decision making processes. You need to
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: remember that there will when you are implementing technology, there
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: will always be a group which is which is causing
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: some sort of a resistance so you need to take
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: along those people. Uh, you need to take people along
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: with you. Um, on, on, on, on these sort of
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: a journey. And, and this highlights the engagement with, with
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: your external IT specialist, your vendor, uh, CA ANZ community could be
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: helpful because there might be other SMPs who might, uh,
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: who would have been on the same journey before. The
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: roadmap emphasises the need for robust governance and guidelines to
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: manage the ethical and professional implications, as well as, uh,
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: the importance of constant skills development. Additional integrating AI ...
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: into the audit process, actually position these small firms as
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: an attractive workplace and this will solve the other issue
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: we have been talking on the on some of the
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: other uh, publications through CA ANZ is that, you know, the
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: talent shortage. Yes. Uh, overall, I think it's a it's
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: a valuable resource for the SMP looking to navigate a
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: rapidly changing landscape in other technology.
Gillian Bowen, Host: I do like a checklist. I do like a plan,
Gillian Bowen, Host: and I do like clear communication. And so of course,
Gillian Bowen, Host: there'll be a link to that in the show notes.
Gillian Bowen, Host: So then a final thought from you, Steven, because we're
Gillian Bowen, Host: about to run out of time and I, I do
Gillian Bowen, Host: like to keep these episodes around 20 minutes or less.
Gillian Bowen, Host: How how do you see all of this being applied
Gillian Bowen, Host: by by audit firms? And I'm happy for you to
Gillian Bowen, Host: touch on the sorts of things that they're not thinking
Gillian Bowen, Host: about that they need to think about. And this is
Gillian Bowen, Host: why that they should do it.
Steven Watson, FCA: I think there really needs to be a focus on
Steven Watson, FCA: the client and the relationship, um, and working with the
Steven Watson, FCA: client to be able to get robust, um, data coming
Steven Watson, FCA: through so that we can actually use that with the
Steven Watson, FCA: artificial intelligence and the technology that's available. Um, also through
Steven Watson, FCA: the use of better and more timely recommendations with their clients. Um,
Steven Watson, FCA: so if the client can be doing something more efficiently
Steven Watson, FCA: or effectively, um, then we can obviously do our audit
Steven Watson, FCA: much more effectively and efficiently as well. Um, and it
Steven Watson, FCA: needs to be a clear, as Masood mentioned before, there
Steven Watson, FCA: needs to be a clear investment in additional training and resources,
Steven Watson, FCA: especially in the use of gen AI. I know that
Steven Watson, FCA: CA ANZ has recently rolled out some specific AI training
Steven Watson, FCA: programs which look quite attractive. Um, so I would highly
Steven Watson, FCA: recommend jumping on the CAA ANZ website and having a
Steven Watson, FCA: look at those courses that are available.
Gillian Bowen, Host: Yeah, that's a really good point. Steven and I will
Gillian Bowen, Host: make sure I put a link to those, uh, in
Gillian Bowen, Host: the episode notes as, as well. Look, before we wrap up, then,
Gillian Bowen, Host: a final thought from both of you about, um, about
Gillian Bowen, Host: this space and the sorts of opportunities it really, Um.
Gillian Bowen, Host: It really presents to the profession. Masood.
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: Oh. Thanks, Gill. Uh, I think few few years ago,
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: when we published our 2019 report, the use of AI
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: and machine learning was in its infancy. Fast forward now
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: everyone is using it. It's part of our day to
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: day lives and businesses. Yeah. And this tells us the
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: the technology is accelerating rapidly. And the technologies we mentioned
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: at the beginning of this episode would remain relevant. On
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: top of that, the, uh, we need to track advancement
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: or keep ourselves ready for the new developments and aware
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: the risk associated. I'll just give a little example of
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: Agentic AI, which is a new, new thing in it....
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: This is this is, uh, kind of your specific
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: hired bot, uh, or an AI assistant tool, which you
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: can deploy onto any function and which will work for
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: you for the rest of the time until it's deployed.
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: So and a very, very recently developed tool. The other
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: part is the collaboration between different stakeholders is is absolutely
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: critical for the successful integration of these advanced technologies. Audit auditors,
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: professional bodies like CA ANZ, technology providers and regulators. We
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: need to work together to ensure the new technologies are
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: implemented effectively and ethically. At the same time, the audit
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: firms have a critical role in developing the next generation
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: of auditors, and the next generation of auditors must be
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: agile and technological fluent not just the data and analytics,
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: but also AI and emerging trend. So I think by
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: taking a proactive approach, firms can stay competitive. And with
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: this collaboration, this can truly make a difference and it
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: will take us where we want.
Gillian Bowen, Host: So opportunities to be excited about I feel rather than
Gillian Bowen, Host: nervous about. Steven, what's your final thoughts?
Steven Watson, FCA: The key points to take away from this session is
Steven Watson, FCA: probably to have a clear focus and strategy in terms
Steven Watson, FCA: of the adoption of the future technologies, and have that
Steven Watson, FCA: willingness to change and adapt to these new technologies, and
Steven Watson, FCA: continually communicating that with your team, but also your clients.
Steven Watson, FCA: With the advancements of technology, obviously come efficiencies. Therefore, you
Steven Watson, FCA: should have more time to focus on key audit areas
Steven Watson, FCA: that necessarily didn't get the necessary time in the past,
Steven Watson, FCA: probably with the time savings that you get from, uh,
Steven Watson, FCA: in terms of the human intervention, um, can then be
Steven Watson, FCA: applied with the adoption of this technology into the to
Steven Watson, FCA: the audit process, because it will come at an additional
Steven Watson, FCA: cost from a software perspective. Um, however, you can then
Steven Watson, FCA: balance that with the savings in your human capital.
Gillian Bowen, Host: So again, more more opportunities. I like that look. That
Gillian Bowen, Host: is all. We have time for some valuable insights there
Gillian Bowen, Host: on the power of advanced technologies in audit. It's clear
Gillian Bowen, Host: that these innovations are reshaping the audit landscape and offering
Gillian Bowen, Host: exciting opportunities for firms of all sizes. For our listeners,
Gillian Bowen, Host: don't forget to check out the guide and other resources
Gillian Bowen, Host: available there on the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand website,
Gillian Bowen, Host: and I will put useful links in the episode description.
Gillian Bowen, Host: As always, if you want to get in touch with
Gillian Bowen, Host: the podcast, email us: podcast@charteredaccountantsanz.com and follow the podcast in
Gillian Bowen, Host: your favourite podcast app. We're in all of them. Let's
Gillian Bowen, Host: start a conversation. Thank you Steven and Masood for being
Gillian Bowen, Host: my experts on Small Firm, Big Impact.
Steven Watson, FCA: Thank you Gillian.
Masood Mehmood FCCA, CA: Thanks, Gill.
Gillian Bowen, Host: Bye bye.