Within KPMG, tax professionals are using generative artificial intelligence to help corporate tax departments prepare for new requirements for disclosing tax obligations by country. Its customers are granted access to its “virtual assistants” to help collect tax data and help analyze and produce reports on how taxes are paid around the world.
These are just some of the ways KPMG’s $2 billion initiative is already integrating next-level AI into everyday business. The company leverages his decade-plus partnership with Microsoft, the tech giant’s Azure cloud, his platform, and ChatGPT’s creator, OpenAI, to help accountants and consultants deliver insights faster.
KPMG has announced it will jointly develop cloud and AI-based products for its employees and customers, which the company expects to generate up to $12 billion in revenue over five years.
Together, the Big Four are pouring billions of dollars into innovative technology, building on past investments to modernize auditing and drive acquisitions.
“This is probably the biggest transformational moment for technology in this generation,” said Brad Brown, global chief technology officer for tax operations at KPMG, of the expanded partnership with Microsoft and the impact of AI.
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Increased productivity
KPMG’s entire tax practice now has access to ChatGPT, and the company is working to add ChatGPT to products on which its customers also rely, Brown said in an interview with Bloomberg Tax. “Essentially, our experts welcomed a new team member.”
This tool resides within KPMG’s firewall, and KPMG determines what data the tool can access within its protection. Staff should be trained to have access to the tools.
Investments to date have laid the foundation for KPMG to incorporate this cutting-edge technology across its product and service lines, Brown said.
KPMG’s auditors may eventually be able to use this technology to analyze disparate data as well. KPMG’s global chief technology officer for audit operations, Thomas McKenzie, said the company is currently conducting pilot tests focused on tasks such as summarizing contracts and preparing presentations for audit committees.
McKenzie said the focus is on improving productivity, calling the company’s plans to use generative AI for audits “cautious” and “cautious.”
“We need to ensure that the results leveraged in audits are accredited, verified, understandable, and can be used to improve the quality of audits,” he said. “That is why we are taking a very cautious approach to the introduction of AI, because we cannot allow anyone to rely on, tax or advise on results that have been distorted by the misunderstanding or misuse of AI.”
The Big 4 Accelerate AI
Like KPMG, the remaining big four also launched Gen AI pilot programs and services to stay ahead of the curve and ensure their employees and services are ready when their customers are ready.
This investment complements the billions of dollars companies collectively spent in recent years to upgrade their tax and audit suites and train thousands of accountants to use new tools to scrutinize financial data, spot anomalies and identify risks.
Due to its limited partnership agreement with audit client Microsoft, Deloitte instead partners with other technology giants such as Amazon Web Services, Google and NVIDIA to offer cloud and AI-based services. Deloitte said the company has also strengthened its team and AI offerings through a series of acquisitions, including HashedIn Technologies and Intellify.
In April, the company launched a dedicated generative AI practice to help customers formulate their own strategies for evolving technology, and in December spent $1.4 billion training staff in AI and other technical areas.
In April, PwC announced a $1 billion investment to expand the use of AI by U.S. professionals and train 75,000 employees to use the technology. The company says the training will cover the basics of generative AI, including how to write queries.
PwC said the company is also testing the use of artificial intelligence to help auditors with their day-to-day tasks like extracting key terms and comparing data, summarizing meeting minutes and contracts.
Ernst & Young Law Firm announced in June that it would train tax professionals around the world on how to use the same open AI tools as KPMG. The company also has a number of partnerships with ServiceNow, Adobe, and NVIDIA, and plans to bring Microsoft 365 Copilot, another AI-based digital assistant, to boost productivity. The company says an advisory board will guide its use of AI.
Amy Vetter, CEO of the B3 Method Institute, a training and consulting group that helps accountants adopt technology, said beyond the Big 4, companies of all sizes should prepare for emerging technologies by using technology for simple tasks like drafting emails that don’t rely on customer data or sensitive information.
Over time, this tool will provide information to accountants more quickly, enabling them to quickly retrieve relevant information from records and contracts. Wetter said the technology won’t eliminate accounting jobs, but it should transform the way accountants work and increase their expertise.
“No accountant wants to work only the hours they work,” says Vetter. “So even if there is technology to help with that, it doesn’t devalue the accounting profession.”
risk and reward
For now, companies are vying for a share of the burgeoning global AI market, estimated at $96 billion. This is for future customers looking to add Gen AI to their teams soon, as well as corporate directors looking for more efficient and effective audits.
Still, the technology’s potential to obscure the capabilities of human intelligence poses a risk to companies that have traditionally sold the knowledge and expertise of their employees, said Isaac Heller, CEO of accounting technology firm Trullion.
“For people who have built their careers on the accumulation of knowledge, this is heartbreaking,” Heller said. “It’s just an existential threat. It’s not that you can’t turn that risk into an opportunity.”
It’s also a risk to live with the hype that generative AI is a one-size-fits-all tool. Mashika Allgood, founder of AllAI Consulting LLC and AI ethicist, said the tool may not benefit from the same level of training in certain countries or sectors, leaving potential gaps for large international organizations such as Big Four accounting firms.
“Treat it like you would treat any other purpose-built AI that you have deployed in-house,” says Allgood. “We are taking a completely opposite approach to generative AI, and I think it will cost some companies a lot of money and reputational damage.”
Business leaders want to know more about its potential, but companies are in no hurry to adopt generative AI, says Kevin Rubin, chief financial officer of Alteryx, an enterprise analytics platform used by the world’s largest companies.
“Our customers are very interested in understanding how Gen AI can improve their business,” says Rubin. “But they are doing this in a careful and responsible way and want to make sure they understand all the implications of introducing these technologies into their business before diving in.”
