Creating and using data has become a daily aspect of our lives, including for professionals of auditing. The environment of auditing, influenced by technology, is shaping the profession and research has already identified what skills are necessary for auditors to be increasingly essential in companies. Like many parts of our personal and professional lives, digital transformation is extending its reach to auditing. Data drives our lives, and the profession of auditing is not immune to that fact.
There are several technologies today that currently affect or are likely to affect the profession of auditing coming soon. An understanding of how different technologies can impact the future of auditing and what this means for professionals in the field.
A auditing and technology together, provide insights for organizations and the auditors themselves about how they can adapt more effectively in the face of significant changes. There are several key factors that signal the need for technological change in auditing and those drivers include the rapid increase in the volume of data, changes in business models, the shift to automation, and the demand for a proactive, future-oriented approach. These technologies include data analysis, robotic process automation (RPA), drone technology, artificial intelligence (AI), and cloud technologies.
Research also shows that professionals from auditing need to adapt to changes in their customers' delivery models, including the need to understand the various technologies used. Data analysis was considered to be the most mature of the technologies currently used by most companies in auditing, while machine learning is not yet at the stage where it is incorporated into daily practice. Taken as a whole, the technology is also a catalyst that will help change the focus of the process of auditing from a retrospective view to a prospective perspective.
The profession of auditing it is still at a very early stage of AI and has not incorporated it as deeply as it could, but the human relationship between client and auditor remains important, after all, not everything can be replaced by technology. Technology offers the ability to improve the quality of auditing and add value to it, ceasing to be a reactive and retrospective exercise to a proactive, predictive and prospective exercise, working in real time. Even in its traditional context, technology already offers opportunities to produce auditingof high quality, which best meets your existing purposes.
However, if AI and related technologies are fully implemented, this could raise questions about auditor independence
An essential skill for professionals of auditing for the coming years it will be the flexibility to adapt to a work environment that will continue to evolve. Employers need to be attuned to this and cannot simply delegate this to the team, but they will need to carefully consider the design of the emerging functions.
Technical, communication and ethical skills, ability to acquire and use knowledge, creativity, explore potential results and generate new ideas, awareness and application of technologies, ability to accurately anticipate future trends, and abilities to understand customer expectations are some of the skills identified in research for professionals of auditing in the era of digital transformation. Although the auditor's role is changing significantly, professional skepticism and independence will remain important.
Contact TATICCA — ALLINIAL GLOBAL, which provides integrated auditing services, internal auditing, accounting, taxes, corporate finance, financial advisory, risk advisory, technology, business consulting and training, for more information, at www.taticca.com.br or e-mail taticca@taticca.com.br and learn more. Our company has certified methodologies for carrying out activities.
