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Big 4
Chartered Accountants to probe big four over data leaks [Financial Review]
Chartered Accountants ANZ has launched an investigation into how big audit firms handle confidential information, widening the potential fallout from a mishandled whistleblower complaint at KPMG Australia. The “quality practice review”, ordered by the industry body’s chief executive Ainslie van Onselen, will also examine ethical practices at KPMG, Deloitte, EY, PwC and four other large firms.
AI
EY GDS launches AI centre in Bengaluru [New Indian Express]
EY Global Delivery Services (GDS) has launched the ey.ai Centre for Reimagination in Bengaluru to help organisations explore the use of artificial intelligence and other technologies in business operations and decision-making. The facility, spread across 40,000 sq ft at the EY GDS campus in Bengaluru, was launched on June 11. According to the company, the centre is intended to bring together AI, sector expertise and design capabilities to help enterprises move from experimentation to implementation.
Accounting firms’ AI investments moving beyond ‘just clerical tasks’ [Accountants Daily]
Read these results carefully. “The accounting profession expects…”
The Access Group’s State of AI in Accounting Report 2026, conducted by Agile Market Intelligence, surveyed 434 accountants, bookkeepers, and other accounting professionals between mid-September and mid-November last year across Australia, about their experiences of AI in their practices, including their near-, medium-, and long-term AI integration trajectories. The report found that, by the end of this year and onwards, accounting firms across the board anticipate the successful implementation of AI in higher-stakes use cases. Agile Market Intelligence director Michael Johnson said that, by late 2026, the accounting profession expects AI to take on more work that impacts critical outcomes, “not just clerical tasks”.
Pentagon turns to AI in push for clean financial audit by 2028 [Stars and Stripes]
The Pentagon has awarded a nearly $49 million contract for an artificial intelligence platform designed to help agencies prepare for annual financial audits as the department works toward a congressionally mandated clean audit by 2028. Army Contracting Command on Monday awarded the contract to Groundswell Corp. for its Agentic Auditor platform, according to contract documents. The contract is in effect until June 8, 2031.
Audit
Majority of Brokerage Audits Flagged for Faults, Watchdog Says [Bloomberg Tax]
Two-thirds of audits of brokerage firms picked by the industry’s watchdog for inspection failed to meet US standards, according to results released Thursday. Staff with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board found faults with 66% of brokerage firm audits selected for inspection in 2025, the annual report showed. That is down from the more than 75% of audits found to have deficiencies in 2024.
Tax
AICPA recommends improvements to CP53E notice process [Journal of Accountancy]
Your dues money hard at work (that is not a sarcastic statement)
The IRS should provide additional guidance on CP53E notices, the AICPA said, after the agency sent the notices to 3 million taxpayers, seeking bank account information and prompting widespread concern. “Implementing our recommendations and increasing public outreach will help to reduce confusion and protect taxpayers who are exempt from the electronic fund requirement,” the AICPA said in a June 9 letter to Ken Corbin, the IRS chief of Taxpayer Services.
Private Equity
One of Philly’s last independent accounting firms was just acquired amid ‘unprecedented’ spree of deals [The Philadelphia Inquirer]
Every week for the last five or six years, Scott Isdaner got another call: Are you ready to sell? As managing partner of one of the last remaining larger independent public accounting firms in the Philadelphia region, Isdaner, 67, had watched many of his competitors — “our brethren” — get acquired by national companies, in many cases because they needed to do so to survive. Last week, Isdaner finally joined their ranks — but from a position of strength, he says. Bala Cynwyd-based Isdaner & Co., one of the 20 biggest accounting firms in the region, announced it had been acquired by Atlanta’s Aprio, one of the 25 biggest accounting firms in the country with $485 million in net revenue last year. “We felt that we were in a position as a firm that if we chose to remain independent and continue down that path, that we would be able to succeed and do so,” said Isdaner, whose firm counts 70 employees, including 10 partners.
Accounting Firm Crowe to Sell Stake to KKR in Nearly $3 Billion Deal [Wall Street Journal]
Accounting firm Crowe agreed to sell a stake to KKR, the latest in a wave of private-equity investments across the industry as firms seek capital to speed up their AI adoption and expansion efforts. KKR and co-investors will collectively take a majority stake in the Chicago-based firm, with Crowe partners retaining a minority stake, in a deal valued at nearly $3 billion, people familiar with the matter said. Crowe and KKR said they expect the deal to close in the third quarter, but declined to comment on the valuation and stake size.
Smith + Howard Announces Significant Investment from TPG [TPG]
Smith + Howard, a nationally recognized assurance, tax, advisory and wealth management firm, today announced that TPG, a leading global alternative asset management firm, has signed a definitive agreement to make a significant investment in Smith + Howard. TPG will invest in Smith + Howard through TPG Growth, the firm’s middle market and growth equity platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Municipal Madness
Fall River CFO says $218K ‘isn’t missing’ as accountant explains audit [The Herald News (Massachusetts)]
A 69-page audit by an outside accounting firm includes $218,000 that’s unaccounted for
The city’s chief financial officer said a $218,000 discrepancy found in an audit of the city’s fiscal 2025 books does not mean that cash is gone. It means the city’s financial ledgers are not yet balanced, said city CFO Emily Arpke. “It’s not material enough to say that the financial statements were materially misstated,” said Roselli, Clark & Associates partner Terenzio Volpicelli. “Otherwise we would’ve had to book an adjustment. But it was just significant enough that I needed to report it to this organization.”
Kronenwetter audit finds control weaknesses, but village avoids modified opinion [Wausau Pilot & Review (Wisconsin)]
Representatives from CliftonLarsonAllen LLP presented the audit during the June 8 Village Board meeting. The audit covered the year that ended Dec. 31, 2024, and came before the board nearly 18 months after the close of that year. The delay, auditors said, was tied in part to additional work needed before they could issue an unmodified opinion. An unmodified opinion means the financial statements fairly present the village’s financial position and are not materially misleading.
Milton CFO is out as questions swirl around annual audit findings [Pensacola News Journal (Florida)]
One thing is certain, longtime Milton employee Curtis Krebs is out as the city’s chief financial officer. It’s whether he’s permanently out or temporarily out while an investigation into his work keeping the city’s books is conducted that has been left open to speculation.
Audits reveal $1.2B in questionable Maryland state spending [The Baltimore Sun]
Maryland’s state government is hemorrhaging taxpayer money, with recent audits uncovering more than $1.2 billion in questionable spending, improper payments and financial irregularities. That figure, detailed across multiple state agencies, has ignited a debate in the state capital over a systemic inability to fix long-standing financial failures. As the same problems appear in audit report after audit report, lawmakers and taxpayer advocates are now demanding to know whether the state is capable of doing more than just identifying the problems.
Law & Order
Man accused of stealing $7K from accounting firm in Brooklyn: NYPD [PIX11]
According to authorities, around 1:58 p.m., an unidentified individual entered Idris and Sons Accounting and Business Taxation, removed approximately $7,000 in cash from a 64-year-old male victim’s unattended desk, and left.
People
Alphabet taps company veteran for principal accounting post [CFO Dive]
Marsida Saraci, 47, has worked for Google’s parent for about 15 years, most recently serving as vice president, finance – deputy controller. Prior to joining the company in 2011 she worked at Big Four firm KPMG for more than eight years.
