Audit Reimagined: The Center for Audit Solutions

By Bill Tomazin

Centralized services. Standardization. Specialists. Technology.

At KPMG, we’re combining those elements with a start-up mentality, experimenting with, and scaling, new approaches to reimagine how we continue to deliver quality audits. Data and analytics, smart glasses, and our global smart audit platform are powerful enablers for our audit professionals today, and we are equally focused on how we organize the audit itself to get the absolute best from those capabilities and our people.

As highlighted in our recent Audit Quality Report, KPMG’s Center for Audit Solutions (CAS) is central for us to continually work smarter. Complementing our Global Delivery Center, in FY20 the CAS executed more than 10% of audit hours and specialists more than 12%.

For example, the CAS is involved in:

performing risk assessment procedures and testing the valuation of investment securities;
reviewing SOC 1 reports;
supporting independence processes; and
auditing employee benefit plans.

The opportunities created through the CAS are providing our people with the ability to take greater control of their careers and allowing them to develop the skills defining the next-generation auditor. At the CAS, we’re providing upskilling opportunities such as:

data and analytics skills through accreditation programs that allow our professionals to use one or more of our technology tools on audits;
IT skills through on-the-job and formal training that our people can deploy on audits; and
advanced project management skills through facilitated workshops, guides and continuous improvement bulletins.

Over the next 36 months, we will rapidly grow the CAS with an innovative mindset in three distinct ways:

As we continue to advance, the Center for Audit Solutions will function both as an accelerator of proven solutions and as an incubator for new ideas, accelerating the pace of our innovation.
Our growth will involve integrating detail-oriented auditors, specialists, and other diverse skillsets for consistent, efficient audit execution.
We will be focused on adopting new, and, in some cases, not-even-conceptualized technology into our processes to boost productivity, making course adjustments as we learn lessons and collaborate on solutions.

The evolution of our service delivery model and our Center for Audit Solutions is just one part of our ongoing multi-year, multi-dimensional transformation journey to deliver excellence and integrity in all that we do.

2020 was a challenging year for most organizations and I am humbled by the efforts of our professionals. When faced with uncertainty and constantly evolving realities, our KPMG teams rose to the challenge, including accelerating the evolution of our service delivery model. Responding to today’s needs has made us stronger for tomorrow – as we find solutions with enduring benefits, and drive innovation that enhances quality.