AI Agents to automate tasks and enhance decision-making, include substantive procedures
Financial Report Analyzer AI engine supports auditors' ability to complete disclosure checklists
Upgrades are the next phase of journey towards an AI-enabled and people-powered audit experience, enhancing quality and driving deeper insights while maintaining a human-in-the-loop
New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - April 23, 2025) - Today, KPMG LLP, the US audit, tax and advisory firm, announced the acceleration of its effort to integrate AI into KPMG Clara, our global smart audit platform. The deployment of AI agents into KPMG Clara will empower more than 95,000 auditors globally to continue enhancing audit quality and deliver deeper insights to clients while increasing productivity.
"We're continuing to build out our AI capabilities with increasingly sophisticated agents in KPMG Clara to enable our auditors to more effectively respond to risks and deliver deeper audit insights," said Scott Flynn, KPMG US Vice Chair - Audit. "As we accelerate our adoption of this innovative technology and deploy new capabilities, we are maintaining a high level of professional skepticism and upskilling our professionals to drive trust in the capital markets."
The AI agents deployed in this release will support standardizing and automating various aspects of the audit process and include substantive procedures such as expense vouching, search for unrecorded liabilities and accrued expenses.
These upgrades also coincide with the release of a Financial Report Analyzer (FRA) AI engine, which provides AI-generated output to enable auditors in completing required disclosure checklists and mark the next phase of our accelerated effort to deliver an AI-enabled, people-powered audit experience.
Additional AI agents will be deployed over the next 12 months and integrated into controls testing procedures, financial statement analysis and more.
The AI agents deployed in this release will:
- Automate routine tasks: AI agents can handle repetitive and time-consuming tasks, such as data analysis and document review.
- Support decision-making: AI agents provide auditors with insights and recommendations based on data analysis, helping them make informed decisions and improve audit quality; and
- Help auditors focus on high-risk areas: With AI handling routine tasks, auditors can dedicate more time to high-risk areas and sector-specific challenges, ensuring that audits are more comprehensive and targeted.
AI and our audit quality imperative
We are committed to always enhancing audit quality. Our approach focuses on embedding AI to handle data-intensive tasks, while reinforcing that our auditors are in control of the decision-making process to maintain quality, accuracy and professional skepticism.
"AI and GenAI are transforming the financial reporting landscape and at the same time creating once-in-a-generation opportunities to change how we deliver quality audits," added Thomas Mackenzie, KPMG US and Global Audit Chief Technology Officer. "It is critical that we leverage the AI capabilities we are deploying not only to enhance audit quality but to help us better understand the risks created with companies embedding AI into their reporting processes are addressed."
AI and private companies - quality, efficiency and insights
Private company founders and investors are increasingly looking for an AI-enabled audit that drives deeper insights and helps auditors identify and evaluate risks in real-time. Today, 81% of private companies report that they are piloting or using AI in accounting, with similar numbers reporting use in financial planning.
Our distinct KPMG Private approach focuses on technology-enabled audit execution and bringing our industry and technical expertise to private companies, their founders and investors at every stage of the business.
Our firmwide commitment to enhancing delivery with AI
Across US companies, the use of AI in the finance function has reached its highest levels yet, with 62% using AI to a moderate or large degree, 58% piloting or deploying generative AI (GenAI) and 52% using AI specifically in financial reporting. Approximately half (45%) report progress leveraging AI for tax and operations.
For tax, the KPMG Digital Gateway platform offers a comprehensive, single-access point for the complete suite of tax and legal technologies, enhanced with cutting-edge generative AI capabilities. This innovative platform uniquely combines our professional knowledge and experience with advanced technological solutions, delivering a market-leading solution that addresses clients' most complex challenges.
These platforms and the deployment of new technologies are part of KPMG's ongoing effort to deliver quality and a better experience through our Trusted AI framework, which underpins everything we do.
Today's announcement builds on:
- In July 2024, KPMG announced the integration of GenAI directly into KPMG Clara for 90,000 auditors around the globe. The embedded AI capabilities interact directly with audit engagement documentation and our audit methodology and help teams refine risk assessments, develop substantive testing procedures, enhance audit documentation and more.
- In June 2024, KPMG announced the integration of the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform into KPMG Clara, enabling our Audit professionals to analyze billions of financial transactions across thousands of audits, driving deeper insights into audit-related risks and further enhancing audit quality.
- In May 2024, KPMG announced upgrades to KPMG Audit Chat. These capabilities are now built into KPMG Clara as part of our long-term vision to deliver an AI-enabled audit. Launched in October 2023, KPMG partners and professionals engaged in more than 2.175 million Audit Chat conversations to more effectively search databases, extract and summarize data from contracts, analyze documents and aid with research on complex accounting and auditing topics.
- In April 2024, KPMG began deploying Copilot for Microsoft 365 to Audit partners and professionals. Engagement teams are already leveraging Copilot, along with Audit Chat, to transform the walkthrough experience by generating process narratives and flowcharts based on meetings with clients.
To learn more about KPMG and our Trusted AI capabilities, visit www.kpmg.com or kpmg.com/trusted-ai.
About KPMG LLP
KPMG LLP is the U.S. firm of the KPMG global organization of independent professional services firms providing audit, tax and advisory services. The KPMG global organization operates in 143 countries and territories and has more than 273,000 people working in member firms around the world. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such. KPMG International Limited is a private English company limited by guarantee. KPMG International Limited and its related entities do not provide services to clients.
KPMG is widely recognized for being a great place to work and build a career. Our people share a sense of purpose in the work we do, and a strong commitment to community service, inclusion and diversity and eradicating childhood illiteracy. Learn more at www.kpmg.com/us.
Media Contact
Anna Leigh Herndon
aherndon@kpmg.com
###
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/249535
SOURCE: KPMG LLP
