Topic: Emerging Trends in Auditing

a) The overall audit strategy sets the scope, timing and direction of the audit and guides the development of a more detailed plan. Audit plan converts the audit strategy into a more detailed plan and includes the nature, timing and extent of audit procedures to be performed by the engagement team members in order to obtain sufficient and appropriate audit evidence to reduce audit risk to an acceptable level. Required: Discuss the content of an audit strategy memorandum and its relevance to an audit.

b) Kalomo & Partners, an audit firm, has decided to enhance its audit procedures by integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies. The firm aims to leverage on AI to audit financial data and transactions more efficiently and effectively. As part of this initiative, the audit team is exploring how AI can be used to analyse large datasets, identify anomalies, and improve the accuracy of their audit findings. The management of Kalomo & Partners is seeking to understand the best practices for using AI in auditing and the potential challenges they may encounter. The firm wants to ensure that the integration of AI aligns with auditing standards and enhances the overall quality of their audit processes.

Required:

i) Explain how AI can be utilised in auditing financial data and transactions.

ii) State TWO potential benefits of using AI in the audit process of Kalomo & Partners.