Alkmist // Signal #1

Firms pour AI into anomaly detection, generative assistants, and dashboards. But enterprise audit directors still spend hours chasing missing documentation.

Alkmist Opinion Audit leadership is confusing speed with substance, and missing the real bottleneck. Regulators demand smarter audit tools. Firms pour AI into anomaly detection, generative assistants, and dashboards. But enterprise audit directors still spend hours chasing missing documentation. The root problem isn’t analytic precision, it’s broken workflows and delayed PBC uploads. Until tools prioritize identifying what task to do next, speed remains superficial. Platforms that surface Next Best Actions, the very items you must address to unblock engagement, offer real transformation. Prediction: audit tools that embed task-level prioritization and client-facing nudges, not just flashy AI‑powered dashboards, will dominate enterprise adoption in 2025.

Audit Sector News

KPMG rolls out AI agents in KPMG Clara smart audit platform
KPMG is embedding AI across its global audit platform to automate substantive procedures , like expense vouching and liability testing , for its 95,000+ auditors worldwide. (source)

RSM US commits $1 billion to AI and automation in audit and advisory
RSM plans aggressive investment in generative AI agents for audit, tax, and compliance workflows, aiming for up to 80% efficiency gains in middle‑market engagements. (source)

Gartner to host new Enterprise Risk, Audit & Compliance Conference in 2025
A first-of-its-kind event themed “Risk Intelligence Realized”, bringing together audit leaders, regulators, and tech providers for strategic planning and insight sharing. (source)

Behind the scenes @Alkmist

📢 New Report: State of the Audit 2025

We’ve just released the State of the Audit: Europe 2025, a joint study with Ghent University. Drawing on insights from 150 audit professionals and 100+ business leaders, the report reveals where the audit profession is thriving and where it’s drifting.

🔎 Key findings:

35% of audit time lost to coordination overhead
68% of clients re-explain basics every year
70% lack visibility into audit progress

More than just numbers, the report is a mirror for the profession, highlighting the growing gap between stated values and lived realities, and calling for a reset on people, purpose, and client focus.

✨ We’ve also produced a limited print edition, including an exclusive bonus chapter Start with the Behaviour, available only in physical form. This month, we shipped out 30 printed copies to audit directors and partners across firms in Europe, it was a refreshing change from sitting behind our screens all day 🙂.

👉 Download the digital report

👉 Request your print copy while supplies last.

This month, we shipped out 30 printed copies of the State of the Audit Europe 2025 report to audit directors and partners across firms in Europe, it was a refreshing change from sitting behind our screens all day :).

We also shot some really cool promotional video’s, coming soon to a LinkedIn post near you.

Product Highlights

Introducing Next Best Actions, your real-time to-do list for audit engagement health. Way smarter than status boards: each action is ranked by priority so admins and auditors know exactly which items to tackle right now to move the audit forward. Clients get nudged with contextual reminders; your team resolves blockers before they spiral.

Quick tip

Set your review reminders to go out 24 hours before PBC deadlines, clients respond far quicker than last-minute nudges. It’s simple, but effective.

Webinar

Audit is changing, fast. Join us on Thursday, September 11 (10:00 CET) for a free 45-minute webinar where we’ll share the key findings from our State of the Audit 2025 study.

👉 What you’ll learn:

The top challenges facing auditors & clients in the next 12 months
Research-backed strategies to reduce friction & boost collaboration
How to turn rising costs into opportunities for innovation

This is the only live session where the SOTA25 team takes your questions directly.

⏳ Seats are limited, reserve your spot now.

Audit Therapy

Multi party collaboration, simplified.

Talk to our founders today!

Talk To Our Founders

Accounting

99% of accountants report burnout. The biggest cause isn't tax season.

The accounting profession's talent crisis gets all the headlines. But the real drain on your team isn't the shortage of new hires. It's the hours your best people lose every week chasing documents, sorting inboxes, and updating Excel trackers that should have been replaced years ago.

Read article

Audit

Only 36% of client requests come back right the first time. That is why your deadlines slip.

Most audit partners can name the moment a deal goes sideways. It is rarely the technical work. It is week three, when half the request list is still open, the client sent the 2023 file instead of 2024, and the manager is composing a follow-up that should have never been needed.

Read article

Accounting

92% of accountants say they spend too much time on admin. Most have not actually fixed it.

Ninety-two percent of accountants say they spend too much time on admin. Only half have automated anything. The reason is not laziness. It is that most automation tools target the wrong layer. The busywork lives somewhere else.

Read article