Debunking Myths on #AuditorProud Day

Like many in the auditing profession, my career journey started in college. I’d gone to Lehigh University thinking I was going to study computer science to follow in my dad’s footsteps, but after taking a programming class, I immediately realized it wasn’t for me. Luckily, a fellow student encouraged me to give the business school a try. Switching majors was the best move I could have made for my future.

I graduated in 1986 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, joined Deloitte as a staff auditor, and have since enjoyed five rewarding careers at the firm, working on and learning about everything from technical accounting to complex financial instruments to the pharmaceutical/life sciences industry to important and key leadership skills.

Today, as I join the accounting community and the Center for Audit Quality to celebrate #AuditorProud Day, I am thrilled to say: I’ve been #AuditorProud since 1986! This year, we are dispelling some myths about the profession, and highlighting the exciting journey ahead for current and future auditors.

Truth #1: The audit profession is embracing technology rapidly.

It’s a common myth that the auditing industry is slow to innovate. That view is based on an outdated stereotype.

When I started my career in auditing, we used pencils, 8 column paper, and calculators to create our workpapers (no green eye shades!). I look at how our audit teams work today, and it’s a radically different picture.

Today, auditors are using drones for inventory observations and using AI and machine learning in many everyday tasks. What was once highly manual work is now automated or enhanced through the deployment of new technologies. This has freed up time for auditors to focus on the part of their jobs requiring human judgment and human ingenuity. 

Core to our mission is protecting the capital markets, and the auditor of today can add “tech savvy” and “data scientist” to their repertoire of skills toward that mission.  

Truth #2: Auditors speak the language of business.

Another common myth is that auditing is just number-crunching. In fact, this profession requires—and develops—a broad set of business skills. One of the reasons I joined the accounting and auditing profession is because someone told me that it was the “language of business”—and 32 years in, I couldn’t agree more. 

Clients look to auditors for insights, to ask good, probing questions, listen intently, help interpret complex rules as it relates to their business, and think critically. Companies are looking to auditors for valuable insights that can help improve their controls, systems, processes, and reporting.  

Truth #3: Machines will augment the work of auditors, but never replace them.

Reading the headlines today, you might come away with the impression that auditors can easily be replaced by machines. Not so! Of course many of the repetitive, time-intensive tasks can be automated. But even with all of the new technologies transforming the industry, at its core, the auditing profession enhances trust in the capital markets.

Machines don’t replicate the level of integrity, judgement, skepticism, and courage required of auditors. Long-term success in auditing means humans will have to continue filling roles that machines can’t and collaborate with the new technologies using their human ingenuity. 

I hope auditors can continue to take pride in what they do and recognize the honorable role they play in the capital markets.

For those thinking about joining the profession, let’s just say, if I knew back in my Lehigh University days what I know now about a career in auditing, I would have been even happier with my decision to switch majors.

I am #AuditorProud. Today—and every day.

The fourth annual #AuditorProud social media day is part of the Discovery Audit initiative founded by the Center for Audit Quality (CAQ). It was designed to celebrate the audit profession and its role in our economy, and help raise awareness about the many opportunities and professions the industry can offer. To learn more about #AuditorProud, follow @discoveraudit and @thecaq.

For more insights, follow me on Twitter @CathyEngelbert and share your insights by using the #AuditorProud hashtag.

Cathy Engelbert is the first woman CEO of Deloitte and first woman Chair of the Governing Board of the Center for Audit Quality. She is also the Chair of the Catalyst Board of Directors.