AI in financial reporting and audit: Navigating the new era

Financial reporting leaders’ AI expectations for their companies and external auditors.

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AI is transforming financial reporting and auditing

AI is transforming financial reporting and auditing and is set to dramatically grow with varying levels of speed around the world and across industries – helping businesses create smarter and more joined-up information flows with better identification and response to risk and a much greater ability to detect anomalies and outliers.

KPMG’s ‘AI in financial reporting and audit: Navigating the new era’ study of senior executives and business leaders across 1800 companies globally confirms the importance of AI in financial reporting and auditing and clarifies, it is not hype. AI is changing auditing and businesses expect auditors to lead the way.

Our research conducted finds that we are standing on the cusp of a genuine financial reporting revolution: moving from the ‘digital age’ to the ‘AI age’ in which nothing will ever be quite the same again. Read our recent report to find out more.

AI in financial reporting and audit: Navigating the new era

Key facts

64 % of companies surveyed expect auditors to have a role in evaluating their use of AI in financial reporting, providing assurance and attestation over their AI controls.

100 % of companies said their boards have taken strategic action regarding AI.

Nearly 72 % of companies surveyed are piloting or using AI in financial reporting.
In three years, that is expected increase to
99 % of companies.

57 % of companies said they will be implementing gen AI for financial reporting over the next three years.

AI now accounts for 10 % of the IT budget and is set to rise significantly in the next year.

Country highlights

Among regions, surveyed companies in North America are moving at the fastest pace (39 percent), followed by Europe (32 percent) and Asia Pacific (ASPAC) (29 percent).

Sector highlights

The use of AI for financial reporting is pervasive across industries. The telecoms and technology sector has made the most progress, with 41 percent responding that they are now selectively or widely implementing AI in their financial reporting process, followed by energy, natural resources, and chemicals (35 percent). Consumer products and retail companies, however, trail other industries. This aligns with further findings, as there are more Leaders in sectors technology and telecoms (32 percent), manufacturing (26 percent), energy and natural resources (25 percent); with fewer in financial services (22 percent) healthcare/life sciences (22 percent) and consumer and retail (18 percent).

Company size highlights

The larger the company, the more suitable they are to be a Leader in AI-enabled financial reporting. Four in 10 of the largest companies, with revenue of over $10 billion, are Leaders while less than half that percentage are Leaders at companies with under $5 billion in revenue.