AUDIT & IFRS Hub

Grant Thornton will be holding the Accounting & Tax Updates 2024 Seminar on the topic “ESG and accountants & Tax audit insights” on Tuesday, 26 November 2024, from 0900 to 1630 hours at Bliston Suwan Park View Hotel, Bangkok.

For mid-market businesses, navigating the environmental, social and governance (ESG) landscape is a complex challenge, and their approach will depend on size, maturity, sector – and the priorities of stakeholders.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, auditors should accept new engagements cautiously and leverage technology to complete ongoing ones.

Accountants must carefully consider the implications of the Coronavirus as they prepare financial reporting for 2019 and beyond.

International Standards on Auditing are often difficult to apply to less complex entities. The IAASB is considering possible solutions.

This article explains why companies might (or might not) choose to go public, how they should prepare for taking such a big step, and what the alternatives might be.

Privately held companies have more freedom to innovate than public companies as they are not beholden to shareholders who demand constant growth.

As technologies such as Robotic Process Automation, Artificial Intelligence, and Blockchain become increasingly integrated in the auditing industry, auditors will need to adjust their focus in order to thrive in this rapidly changing environment.

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) regularly publishes new International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), Interpretations of Standards (IFRIC) or amendments to existing IFRS Standards. In response to these, the global IFRS team publishes IFRS Alerts on these changes (and other issues relevant to IFRS) as they are announced so that you can keep up to date.

For any industry reshaped by rapid technological growth, new business models must be accompanied by the development of complementary skillsets among its employees. The world of auditing is no different; as ever more advanced service capabilities raise client expectations, there is an increasing recognition among accountants that – as the saying goes – “what got you here won’t get you there”. Indeed, auditors in the financial services industry have traditionally prioritised skills such as accounting, risk management, IT and data analytics when looking to land their desired job. Training in these areas will remain essential for some time to come; however, an oft-overlooked set of “soft skills” is becoming ever more relevant in today’s age of digital transformation. These abilities emphasise the human side of business interaction, where interpersonal communication leads to understanding in a way that technology alone cannot yet replicate. With technology now playing a massive role in the finance industry along with other business sectors, auditors now have greater technical abilities at their fingertips than ever before. In such an environment, where computers can outperform even the best and most experienced auditors at fundamental tasks, the traditional role of the auditor can now expand into new areas. It is therefore worth exploring the challenges and opportunities of this new ecosystem, with an eye toward the particular skills that auditors can develop in order to differentiate themselves from their fellow auditors – as well as their silicon-based assistants.

Advances in data analytics are allowing today’s auditors to gain greater insights into their clients’ organisational structure and provide them with higher levels of assurance at similar or even lower costs than ever before.

This article provides some insight into why audit firms sometimes compromise audit quality, while also giving examples of how this happens, and relaying the implications of inconsistent audit quality for the profession as a whole.