KPMG: AI Era in Financial Reporting Insights
Scott Flynn, KPMG US Vice Chair – Audit, says: “It’s clear that financial reporting leaders are rapidly accelerating investments to use AI and Gen AI to not just gain efficiencies but create more value for their organisations by predicting trends and identifying emerging risks.
“Understanding the range of complementary investments in cloud, data and governance is critical for both financial reporting leaders and external auditors to mitigate risks from this rapid transformation.”
Benefits & risks of AI for financial reporters
With plans across US companies to scale AI and Gen AI capabilities in the financial reporting function clear, KPMG reports that 73% of businesses will see increased benefits in real-time risk insights, fraud and control weakness.
In addition, 67% will see increased data accuracy and reliability, while 62% will be able to reap the benefits of lower costs.
On the other hand, despite plans to press ahead with onboarding AI and Gen AI capabilities, 56% of KPMG’s respondents noted data security and privacy concerns as the biggest barriers to successfully implementing this new technology.
In addition, 46% of organisations surveyed are concerned about limited skills and talent for the successful use of Gen AI. Meanwhile, 44% express concerns about the quality of their data for Gen AI to be best leveraged, and 43% say they need more funding and investment levels to upscale their technology.
So, while barriers remain to the successful adoption of AI and Gen AI in financial reporting, the industry is unanimous in its belief in AI and Gen AI to drive efficiencies and create more organisation-wide value.
