Recently, NFRA and ICAI have declared that the regulatory bodies have proposals to sync the auditing standards to increase quality. Globalisation enters the technological advancement and auditing process. The auditing standards of ICAI and NFRA are different. The domestic laws and provisions are tailored to the needs of the domestic business partners.
Manpreet Singh Ahuja is the chief digital officer of PWC. He worked as a partner in PWS for seven years. After the practical experience, he led the risk management services of PWC. He guided a team of 1000 experts. The expert team has an educational background in engineering, MBA, architecture, chartered accountancy and process experts.
In 2021, he was appointed as the digital and Telco officer. His responsibilities dealt with major decisions in the digital, tech, media and telecom sectors of PWC. The blog highlights the difference between system audit and programming, the transformation of audit services with AI and the views of Manpreet Singh Ahuja.
What is the difference between system audit and software programming?
Software programming is the language of the computer with structure for websites, mobile apps, and other multimedia. The programmers troubleshoot the errors in the coding and change the instructions. System audit is the process of checking operational efficiency, protecting assets, increasing cybersecurity, and building confidential networks. A chartered accountant with a DISA course can conduct the system audit and check the technological glitches.
Finance knowledge helps a person to work as a domain expert or process expert. For an app developer in Android phone app development, the following programming languages are requisite: react native, Xamarin, and Flutter. Ionic, Android SDK, Android Studio, and Titanium SDK. In the IOS app development divisions, the following programming languages are in use: Xamarin, Xcode, Ionic, Kotling, Cloudkit, and RxSwift. In the DISA course of ICAI, the students learn about emerging technologies. The online DISA course goes for 18 days. If the student selects the physical class mode, the duration is 12 days. The course prepares the students for IT and bank audits. The DISA course is equivalent to the CISA course offered globally. CISA is the course offered by ISACA, the US organisation. CISA is a course for IT professionals.
System auditing and mobile development are diverse subjects, but the fundamental knowledge is in the emerging technologies in the IT field. So, chartered accountants can understand the technology and complete the system audit. The chartered accountants are holding the positions of chief digital officer in the big four firms. In the AI era, chartered accountants without technical backgrounds make the decisions related to technology, digital media and audit. The programming part is the job of a programmer. The domain experts think about the functionalities and ease of financial operations. Chartered accountants can contribute to the operations part of the business. The programming part is the new one for chartered accountants. The top-level professionals like chartered accountants, cost accountants and managers learn the subject necessary for the job.
Views of Chief Digital Officer:
Manpreet Singh Ahuja is the chief digital officer of PWC. He is a digital officer without a background in technology. He is a chartered accountant and partner of PWC. He says that in the world of generative AI, the ability to think about technology and business is enough to become a techie. Technology is creating its impact in multiple fields. Doctors, engineers, chartered accountants and accountants use technology to complete daunting tasks. He also comments that a non-engineering graduate can comprehensively understand the business. He says in 2023, PWC invested $1 billion in generative AI. He says that the investment showcases the commitment of PWC to be a future-ready company. Manpreet Singh Ahuja says that prompting is the art of asking the right questions and receiving accurate answers from generative AI. He requests professionals to learn the content available for free about AI to understand research and prompt engineering. Receiving LinkedIn certifications and watching YouTube videos educate finance professionals. To understand technology it is essential to play within and figure out the right answers.
The following points explain the changes within PWC to adopt AI technology:
- PWC created chat PWC for writing emails, summarizing meetings, formatting data and coding.
- Gen AI Lab was launched in June 2023 to engage employees in sharing compelling stories about the technology. The platform provoked 6000 individuals to share their technical experience with the lab within 15 to 16 weeks of introduction. The experience in the newest technology creates interest and opportunities.
- In 2023, PWC partnered with legal firm Harvey for legal experts. Harvey guides PWC in tracking regulations, managing rules, and streamlining the research activities. PWC use this collaboration to create LLM models with large amounts of data and train the teams in subjects like due diligence, tax and other laws.
Transformation of audit services with AI:
Many start-up companies have a technical background. Notable startups like Ather Energy, Medibuddy, and Mindgrove Technologies are from the Madras IITians. IIT Kanpur started a centre of excellence for start-up projects called start-up incubation and innovation centre. It educates the students towards research entrepreneurial activities and innovation. The report, which includes an analysis from the Thomson Reuters Institute, says that around thirty per cent of tax and accounting firms are trying to adopt Gen AI tools. Half of the firms are not planning now. But big four firms are leaping the line and investing in AI tools. KPMG is joining the AI revolution with its investment in KPMG Ignite. The technology enhances quality, predictive insights, and strategic guidance, spotting trends and boundaries of traditional accounting.
1990 is the era of privatisation, liberalisation and globalisation. In this period, many Indian companies entered the global markets. After globalisation, there was a shift towards outsourcing business. AI is bringing changes in the profession of accounting and auditing. The business leaders expect the auditors to provide deeper insights in areas like decision-making and cost management.
Start-up companies in India are looking to build companies that satisfy their customers. RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said in a recent statement that the integration of AI tools in financial operations brings significant investment opportunities to the stakeholders. In a global conference, Das said that AI is used in the financial sectors in the form of Chabot, fraud risk management, data processing for alerts and credit modelling.
Bottom line:
Artificial intelligence is bringing changes to the auditing profession. Big Four firms are investing in artificial intelligence. Technology also helps aspirants develop innovative ideas for individual start-up companies. Start-up companies with technological and financial backgrounds are grabbing the attention of global investors.
