Empowering Our People Promotes Audit Quality

The people you work with can make all the difference, not only in your day, but also in your career and in the experience of a client.

The big picture: We know that, even amid an economic slowdown, competition for top talent remains heated. We’re focused on attracting and developing diverse talent as our profession evolves to deliver trust across all aspects of business. From financial statements to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics, and from cyber attestations to digital assets including cryptocurrencies (such as Bitcoin) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), our KPMG partners and professionals are staying ahead of the curve.

We call our people Next Gen Auditors because our strategy is hyper-focused on the future of the profession. What does that look like?

• Our people are a talented, diverse group of professionals with market-leading technological, data, and auditing skills. This includes specialization as we increasingly centralize areas of the audit, including valuation, evaluating SOC attestations, and more.
• These core skills are supplemented by continuous upskilling on industry knowledge, project management skills, and leadership capabilities to drive modernized, tech-enabled and efficient quality audits, while delivering insights and navigating disruption occurring across markets.
• Next Gen Auditors work Better, Together, celebrating core KPMG values. Our inclusive and collaborative culture drives innovation that delivers a better audit experience and enhances quality in all we do to meet the evolving market demands.

Going deeper on our progress…

1.      Recruiting and developing a diverse workforce

We know inclusive and diverse teams produce better outcomes. We also know the audit profession must accelerate action to diversify. Last year, we took concrete steps to advance our Accelerate 2025 initiative—KPMG’s commitment to attract, retain, and advance underrepresented talent. This helps ensure that we are doing all we can to contribute to an equitable society and workplace, and is aligned to our three key pillars: Getting Here, Succeeding Here, and Leading Here.

• Getting Here: KPMG’s Master of Accounting with Data and Analytics (MADA) Program prepares students to hit the ground running in today’s data-driven accounting environment by providing specialized skills for practical use of the latest analytics technology needed. This year, MADA expanded to new schools, including four Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
• Succeeding Here: Through a multi-million-dollar investment in a new KPMG program called CPA Kickstart, we will now pay Audit professionals to study for the CPA exam with enhanced resources to improve outcomes. Students from non-traditional schools do not receive the same support for passing the CPA exam, disproportionately impacting people of color. This first-of-its-kind effort targets this inequity, enrolling 225 new hires in its first year, 50% of whom are people of color.
• Leading Here: This year, we had our most diverse partner and managing director promotions in our practice’s history. We know we have further work to do, but we are proud that under-represented people now account for 62% of our practice, up from 59% two years ago.

2.      Driving career development in key areas defining the future of audit

The growing need to provide trustworthiness around data for ESG issues, technology, and other areas is driving our strategy to upskill our people through our Next Gen Auditor initiative.

• Data and technology training hours doubled year-over-year. As our Audit Chief Technology Officer Lou Trebino articulated, we are focused on a data-driven audit. In FY22, our Audit partners and professionals spent 120,000+ hours of training in this area.
• Our firm conducted 33,000+ ESG training hours in FY22. This effort includes Executive Education, collaborations with NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business, the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School, as well as deep dives into standards that will define financial and sustainability reporting in the future.

3.      Learning focused on quality, relevance, skills development, and making learning more easily accessible

• We embed learning in our day-to-day activities and into our audit methodology. In addition to more in-depth trainings and courses, we provide brief virtual sessions and performance support on-demand, giving our people the relevant information they need, when they need it.
• Learning and development is also an opportunity to make connections. In fact, during FY22, every single person in our Audit practice had the opportunity to come to our learning and innovation center and cultural home, KPMG Lakehouse, to participate in interactive and engaging programs, innovate, and connect with colleagues.
• Our audit transformation is also creating new opportunities for rotational programs in financial statement audit, Tech Assurance, and our centers of excellence, including one solely focused on ESG reporting, among others.

Audit quality starts and ends with our people. As the skills of our next generation of auditors continue to evolve, we are committed to investing in our people and creating a workplace that positively impacts our employees to attract and develop talent.