We are the latest UK firm to benefit from MindBridge’s solution, Ai Auditor.
The programme brings increased levels of data analytics and enhanced insights, including market-leading visualisation tools, to the audit process.
We can now offer this technology to select clients for the audit process from 1 July. MindBridge’s Ai Auditor uses cutting edge technology to trawl all transactions and highlight those which are unusual or higher risk. These risk scores are then woven into all the views of activity and performance throughout Ai Auditor. In this way, it can improve audit effectiveness and spot anomalies which traditional audit methodologies such as random statistical samples are likely to miss.
MindBridge implements a philosophy of explainable AI so auditors and accountants can gain a thorough understanding of the conclusions that Ai Auditor has reached. Click on any one and all the control points will be listed, along with an explanation for the risk classification.
“We are excited to be able to offer Ai Auditor as part of our audit package. We hope it will make the audit process more efficient and improve audit quality, and that is of benefit to our clients and team alike,” said Dan Hutson, head of audit in our London office.
Audit manager in our London office, Sakina Rashid, said: “In terms of audit quality, we are able to look at a much greater amount of data in a more targeted way.”
“The other key benefit is being able to show trends using MindBridge’s visual tools to clients, highlighting important insights about their business which they would not have had otherwise.” added Dan Hutson.
Data analytics is increasingly being recognised by regulators, professional bodies and the industry in general as essential for audit quality. The FRC recently released a report in which it stated that “the appropriate use of technological resources has the potential to improve audit quality.” MindBridge’s audit tool has received ICAEW accreditation under its ICAEW Technology Accreditation Scheme. It is so far the only data audit and analysis software solution provider to have gone through this rigorous evaluation methodology. The company has also been named as a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum.
MindBridge’s Director of Growth for Europe, Stuart Cobbe, said: “Any accountant or finance professional interested in the financial risk of an organisation, or the performance of an organisation, will want to get a pretty deep understanding quickly. MindBridge is an excellent tool for that purpose.”
Ai Auditor sweeps through all transactions and rates them low, medium or high risk. However, the visualisation tools add value which goes beyond improved efficiency and accuracy in the audit process. “Auditors can get a deep understanding quickly of the business, and therefore focus the work more appropriately, and be more educated on the business when they are talking to the client, as well as having a more holistic view of the risks associated with that business,” he added.
As the impact of Covid-19 continues to accelerate the uptake of technology, MindBridge is continuing to develop its product. “We want to continue improving on our ability to automatically surface insight and automatically surface what is interesting, unusual or risky to auditors and accountants,” Stuart Cobbe said. That means for firms like ours, there is no need to assume that the Big Four are always in the lead when it comes to innovation in the accountancy sector. Smaller firms are often able to be more agile, and using tools such as MindBridge means they are able to pass on cost savings to clients, and deliver deeper, more meaningful business insights from the audit process.
With full training provided, plus pilot testing periods and limited time contracts available, it may be tempting for other firms to follow in our footsteps and deploy MindBridge.
