This is a systems project in a growth-oriented audit sector. It is aimed to improve efficiency, raise standards of customer service, and increase capacity in a market known to be short of resources. The resulting system will also reduce possibility for errors as well as increase the opportunity for fraud detection in audit engagements.
Lead BCU Partners: Dr Charles Ambilichu; Dr Shishank Shishank
Lead Business Partners: Johnathan Dudley; Katy Bayliss
KTP Associate: Farsana Salim
Project Duration: February 2023 – February 2025
Funder: The project is funded by Innovate UK and Crowe UK
The problem
Well-publicised alleged audit failures have resulted in pressure on registered audit firms. These issues have also coincided with the audit profession undergoing a period of considerable change in terms of requirements to comply with new audit regulations, requiring additional work while maintaining and continually improving audit quality standards, professional independence and ethical standards. This has created opportunity for Crowe UK, a leading audit, tax, advisory and consulting firm with a national presence and global reach, to provide a viable alternative to the ‘Big Four’ accountancy firms. However, exploitation of this opportunity is constrained by the need to create capacity whilst maintaining quality. This KTP project directly addresses the problem.
The project
This is a systems project in a growth-oriented audit sector. It is aimed to improve efficiency, raise standards of customer service, and increase capacity in a market known to be short of resources. The resulting system will also reduce possibility for errors as well as increase the opportunity for fraud detection in audit engagements.
Multiple analytical tools exist in the audit space, but these are often incompatible with each other and difficult to include in the audit planning process. The project draws on the opportunity that automation and data handling are key components in meeting the objective of achieving efficiency gains, improved audit quality as well as growth in the firm’s share of the audit market. Therefore, the introduction of automated systems will simplify the choice and application of audit tools, driving integration of digitised systems into the audit process. This will improve audit productivity and accuracy through automated systems and a logic algorithm with client data - an entirely novel approach.
Birmingham City University's role:
BCU is working with the firm to capture the specific requirements of the business. Based on the requirements, BCU will design a system, collect relevant client data and use specific algorithms with machine learning techniques to develop the automated audit system.