The increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) will radically change the accounting profession in the coming years. 83 percent of law firms expect that technological change will significantly or very significantly disrupt the industry, according to a study by the Bonn research institute WGMB on behalf of manager magazin. “The development in the field of AI will change the work of auditors and supervisory boards much more profoundly than all previous experiences combined,” said
Norbert Winkeljohann
(66), Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bayer and former German head of the auditing and consulting group PwC, at the “Deutschlands best auditors” in Berlin.
The award is presented every two years by manager magazin and WGMB. For this purpose, the 20 German auditing firms with the highest turnover as well as selected medium-sized law firms are evaluated. They cannot apply for the prize; they must be nominated by their clients. This year, 77 medium-sized companies managed to qualify; PwC won the comparison of the major providers.
Study leader
Dietmar Fink
(57) warned law firms not to let up on the digitalization of their processes. According to self-assessment, 97 percent already classify themselves as advanced or very advanced. “Your clients do not fully share this impression,” said the Bonn economics professor and scientific director of the WGMB. "Its a lot to do."
For
Andrea Bruckner
(61), co-chairwoman of BDO, size is increasingly becoming a decisive factor. “The investment volume in digitalization and AI is relevant to competition; smaller law firms will have a difficult time,” she said at the subsequent panel discussion. Deloitte Germany boss
Volker Krug
(52) believes it is possible that one day large tech companies will enter the auditing business because they have the necessary technology. “Microsoft or Google have significantly more capital than any major auditor; The missing specialist expertise could be bought,” says Krug. For ex-PwC boss Winkeljohann, it is conceivable that in ten years AI-based audit programs will be freely available on the market - just like SAP software for corporate management is today.
The discussants agreed that AI in auditing must be used comprehensibly and responsibly. “The biggest risk today is disinformation,” says Winkeljohann. “Auditors are a trusted authority who must deliver the highest quality, even when no one is watching.” The Bayer controller assumes that in the medium to long term, 50 percent of all audit-related activities can be automated.
This is necessary because increasing regulation and new tasks such as sustainability reporting mean that the workload for auditors is constantly increasing, added Deloitte boss Krug. “We won't be able to do this with people alone.” BDO co-leader Bruckner called for transparency: “We have to openly discuss and decide which processes can be replaced by technology and which cannot. In the end, a person has to keep the big picture in mind.”
The representatives of the auditing companies did not give their clients any hope that the widespread use of technology could reduce prices in auditing. “Complexity and depth of testing are increasing, as are the quality standards for our work,” said Krug. This will not lead to lower prices. “Today, cars are manufactured fully automatically and have not become cheaper as a result,” added Bruckner.
“We do expect that efficiency gains will be shared fairly,” replied Winkeljohann, who represented the customer side as a member of the supervisory board of Bayer and Deutsche Bank. “But if we get greater audit security, I would also be willing to pay more.” Ultimately, this could lead to avoiding accounting scandals like the Wirecard case and detecting cases of fraud earlier.