Robotic Process Automation in Accounting Firms : Audit Scenarios, Proposed Automation, Future Challenges and Opportunities

In recent years, even with the advent of technological advances like robotic process automation (RPA), auditors still predominantly spend a great deal of time performing repetitive and rule-based tasks. This paper examines numerous audit scenarios within four accounting firms and proposes RPA-enabled solutions to make various procedures more efficient and effective. These anecdotes are based on our recent consultancy experiences with auditors from a group of Big 4 and mid-sized accounting firms. In each scenario, we present our proposed strategies, describe and analyze how we have helped the accounting firms automate their real-world audit tasks. Finally, we discuss the future challenges and opportunities regarding RPA implementation