How Auditors Are Helped and Hindered by AI in the Workplace

Since OpenAI's ChatGPT burst onto the scene in late 2022 and achieved unprecedented user growth in early 2023, speculation about the future of finance and accounting with advanced large language models has been equally fast-moving. Outwardly, accounting firms large and small have embraced AI advancement and spoken positively about its effect on both their own and their clients' workspaces.

Internally, however, there was understandable concern about data privacy and confidentiality.

The Initial Security Response

Just as staff were beginning to draft deliverables and write macros with ChatGPT, inevitable restrictions or outright bans were placed on the breakthrough chatbot's use:

PwC: Did not ban staff access but reiterated it was not to be used for client work
KPMG, Marcum, and others: Launched their own in-house LLMs
Broader industry: Up to 75% of companies surveyed have considered bans on applications like ChatGPT, including major tech leaders like Apple and Amazon

Real Auditor Experiences: One Year Later

A year after ChatGPT's launch hype, we at Tellen wanted to hear directly from auditors about how AI has changed their workspaces. With a full audit year under their belt using ChatGPT (or proprietary firm chatbots), we conducted interviews to understand:

Where AI is currently being used
Where it could be in the future
How attitudes toward AI use have evolved

Early Promise vs. Current Reality

The Initial Excitement

When ChatGPT first gained momentum, there was curiosity and excitement within accounting firms about automating dreary elements of the audit cycle. While audit practices have never been on the cutting edge of new tech, this development had a different flavor—new ideas were going to be experimented with from the bottom up.

Administrative Relief

Big Four Manager: "So much of managing the audit can be boiled down to administrative burden; following up with a client for late deliverables, coordinating with overseas teams and just making sure our audit is still moving. Everyone offers the advice as a new manager to 'set aside 30 minutes for emails once or twice a day' but that's not nearly enough. Having ChatGPT write my emails for me, especially when I was too tired during busy season, was a real time saver."

Initially, it seemed AI might give auditors the extra time and energy they needed, with potential to expand into more integrated and efficient tools.

The Integration Challenge

Technical Limitations

The same audit manager: "It would be great if I could ask the chatbot to draft up an outstanding items list and send it to the client but unfortunately even if it could access and read our portal, the firm would never allow it."

This speaks to both practical limitations and firm policies around AI accessing client data.

Internal Tool Limitations

Even internal chatbots launched by large firms haven't solved the interface problem:

Big Four Senior Associate: "The tool can pull on firm-specific knowledge but it can't integrate seamlessly with our audit tools, meaning it is still essentially a chatbot where you can input and extract natural language but not much more. I know people have used it to write proposals and reports but they haven't been able to automate large chunks of work like we were thinking at first."

Mid-Market Perspectives

Corporate Internal Audit

Mid-cap public company senior internal auditor: "We just had our head of internal audit talk about using Gemini with a corporate license. While we're not barred from using Gemini or ChatGPT, we're also in the process of developing an AI use policy, but the attitude toward using, while somewhat hesitant, has been positive overall."

The Disconnect Between Promise and Practice

Common Themes Across Interviews

One consistent thread emerged: initial excitement about AI tools has dissipated as firms:

Get their arms around the technology
Place restrictions on its use
Form specialized AI consultancy divisions

External vs. Internal Focus

The same audit manager: "It does feel at times like the audit practice is getting left behind a bit. It seems like we're focused on selling AI to our clients and not as much on using it internally to make our own work more efficient."

Firm Positioning vs. Reality

Senior internal auditor: "I get the sense that they know this is going to be big but they're still figuring it out just like we are."

Whether due to lack of practical applicability or data security concerns, accounting firms are navigating AI waters seemingly more externally than within their walls, at least initially.

The Path Forward

Beyond Free Chatbots

While limitations of free chatbots like ChatGPT are obstacles to further AI use, it will take:

Full support of firms for AI initiatives
Experiments with AI in real-world environments to perform audit procedures
Integration with existing audit workflows rather than standalone tools

What's Needed

The future of AI in auditing requires:

Seamless integration with audit platforms and data
Security-first approaches that protect client confidentiality
Natural language interfaces that allow auditors to build automations
Real-world testing of AI capabilities in audit procedures

Tellen's Vision

At Tellen, we're developing AI tools that will drive efficiencies in all phases of the audit while enhancing quality by drawing on large datasets of quality findings. We believe AI can:

Absorb tasks ripe for automation
Enhance auditor insights and ingenuity
Allow auditors to build automations in natural language
Maintain data security at the forefront

Our aim is to bridge the gap between AI's promise and practical implementation in audit workflows, enabling auditors to focus on high-value judgment and analysis while AI handles routine procedures.

The potential is there—it's time to build the infrastructure to realize it.

Learn more about Tellen's approach to AI-powered auditing or join our waitlist to stay updated on our progress.