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Tech's impact on the delivery of audit
How much is technology transforming the quality of audit? David Lyford-Smith shares his thoughts and looks at what reviews, reports and other resources are revealing.
The intertwining of audit and technology has never been greater, and neither has the number of questions this raises. How do audit and technology overlap? How can the audit profession make best use of available and emerging technologies? How can firms equip their people with the skills this demands? How much is tech transforming the practice of audit? How might tech enhance audit quality? What about the scope of audit? How can assurance help tackle the risks of adopting new tech? The list of questions could continue.
I’ll be answering some of these questions in this article as well as pointing members to some useful reports and resources that will help individual auditors and firms to further consider questions such as these, and consider any potential implications for audit and assurance. In particular, I’ll be focusing on a recent tech-oriented thematic review from the Audit Quality Review (AQR) team at the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), and ICAEW output including a report on tech risk and assurance, as well as some related webinars.