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AI
‘Poured jet fuel on AI:’ NC’s secret weapon for faster audits as experts urge human oversight [WRAL]
North Carolina’s government spending watchdog has released, on average, a report approximately every three days this year, according to a WRAL analysis. Driving the surge, State Auditor Dave Boliek said, is the use of artificial intelligence. “The machine learning has helped us to expand the amount of work we can do in a condensed amount of time,” Boliek said in a recent interview with WRAL.
AI investments keep US economic growth in gear, for now [Deloitte]
Our baseline forecast reflects our best assessment of the path economic variables will take. Our downside and upside scenarios reflect plausible alternatives for the US economy should our assumptions prove to be either too optimistic or too pessimistic, respectively.
EY Global Vice Chair: AI’s biggest paradox comes down to what AI can’t do [Fortune]
Writes Julie Teigland:
Technology thrives at repetitive tasks and surfacing data. But humans are responsible for defining the goal, setting the purpose and providing the context that gives information meaning. People decide which objectives are worth pursuing, recognize when context changes and remain accountable for the results. Without that human direction, data and insights may not be applied effectively or generate their full potential value.
New research: we hired 12 CPAs to complete four realistic accounting tasks, then had AI models from the past few years complete the same work.
— aden barton (@aden_barton) October 1, 2026
As of May 2025, accountants outperformed AI. Now they lose out to today's frontier models, which are near perfect on these tasks. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/Skev4BeH2G
Audit
PCAOB Updates Standard-Setting, Research, and Rulemaking Agendas After First-Ever Public Comment Period [PCAOB]
“Feedback from investors, auditors, academics, and other stakeholders is critical for the PCAOB to fulfill our mission. In this case, it helped inform our updated standard-setting, research, and rulemaking agendas and assisted us in refining our priorities,” said Chairman Demetrios (Jim) Logothetis. “Under these updated agendas, we will continue to focus our efforts on projects that are practical, responsive to today’s capital markets, and ultimately, advance audit quality and investor protection.”
Japan’s CPA Institute Calls PwC’s Disclaimer of Opinion on Nidec Audit “Regrettable” [BigGo]
The Japanese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (JICPA) issued a statement on October 2 expressing that it finds it “regrettable from the standpoint of capital market credibility” that PwC Japan LLC, a member firm, issued a disclaimer of opinion on the Annual Securities Report of major motor manufacturer Nidec Corporation for the fiscal year ended March 2026. The Institute explained that the comment is not intended to criticize any specific audit firm by name, but rather represents its view on the overall current situation. It added that it “will continue to take necessary actions regarding the status of audit execution,” signaling its commitment to ensuring audit quality among its members.
ANZ drops KPMG from audit job as accounting body fails to land a hit [Sydney Morning Herald]
ANZ has dropped KPMG after almost 60 years of it holding the $29 million contract to audit the bank’s accounts, in a fresh blow to the consulting firm that is dealing with the fallout from a damaging whistleblower scandal. But despite the allegations roiling the firm, the professional body charged with upholding the standards of auditors has made no critical findings about KPMG in a report published on Friday afternoon.
BDO auditors face inquiry over Manchester City cheating scandal [The Times]
After the football team was found guilty of inflating revenues by £900m, the financial regulator is set to examine whether audits were robust enough.
The Serious Questions
Why India Has No Big Four Of Its Own [Swarajya]
Speaking at the centenary celebrations of Shri Ram College of Commerce on September 5, 2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked why India cannot have its own Big Four, the name given to the world’s four biggest accounting and consulting firms. “Why cannot India have its own global consulting firm? Why can’t our accounting firms, legal firms and financial firms become global leaders? We say proudly that Indians are leading top global companies… then why cannot companies made by Indians lead globally?”.
Pipeline
More Students Enter Accounting Profession [The Business Journal (Ohio)]
“I sit on the dean’s advisory council at [Youngstown State University], the Williamson College of Business, and the enrollment for the accounting program has definitely increased over the last couple years,” says Lisa Metzinger, a partner at Cohen & Co in Youngstown, Ohio. “I feel like we have a healthier pipeline than we did a couple years ago.”
And I Oop!
Democratic Texas AG candidate vows to probe Deloitte’s role in voter registration delay [CNBC]
Nathan Johnson, a Texas state senator and the Democratic candidate for attorney general, announced that, if elected, he plans to investigate Deloitte and other state vendor contracts in the wake of a software error that resulted in a failure to process voter registrations for what he and a Republican state lawmaker say were at least 178,000 Texans. Johnson, in an exclusive interview with CNBC ahead of the Friday announcement, blamed Texas Republicans for pretending to shrink the state government and outsourcing essential duties to contractors. Deloitte allegedly installed a software update on the Department of Public Safety’s servers in 2025 that led to the error, which was only caught in September with a little over a month to go before the 2026 midterm election.
Tax
IRS Is Looking For Tax Volunteers. Here’s Why I Flew 4,300 Miles To Be One. [Taxgirl]
In 2026, more than 84,500 VITA and TCE volunteers helped taxpayers file nearly 2.9 million tax returns at no cost, according to the IRS. The programs serve taxpayers across the country, including lower-income taxpayers, seniors, people with disabilities, taxpayers with limited English proficiency, and residents of rural communities like those in Alaska. While my VITA experience involved single-engine airplanes, snowmobiles, and some truly impressive winter gear, yours almost certainly won’t.
Treasury, IRS propose regulations for education tax credit [Journal of Accountancy]
Beginning in 2027, individual taxpayers generally may claim a nonrefundable credit of up to $1,700 for qualified cash contributions to eligible organizations. Married couples filing jointly may claim a combined credit of up to $3,400. Unused credits may be carried forward for up to five years.
Fact check: Could California lawmakers expand the billionaire tax to everyone? [CalMatters]
Opponents of Proposition 40 have a message for voters: Don’t be fooled. The billionaire tax is a “Trojan horse” for new taxes on all Californians, ads proclaim. But is that true?
End Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act: Technical Analysis of H.R. 9496 and New Internal Revenue Code Section 7511 [Current Federal Tax Developments]
On September 30, 2026, Congress completed final passage of H.R. 9496, titled the “End Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act,” sending the measure to the President for signature. Passed by the House of Representatives under suspension of the rules on September 15, 2026, and subsequently passed by the Senate without amendment by unanimous consent on September 30, 2026, H.R. 9496 enacts significant statutory relief for U.S. nationals wrongfully detained or held hostage abroad.
Firm Watch
Pittsburgh accounting firm expands Columbus footprint with 50% larger office [WPXI]
Schneider Downs & Co. confirmed that it signed a lease for larger space for its Columbus office at 1050 Yard Street in Grandview Heights, upping square footage by 50.3%. At present, it has 19,472 square feet at 65 East State St., but will occupy 29,265 square feet at the Grandview Yard development on the outskirts of Columbus, saying that this positions the firm to better serve its clients while expanding its presence.
Deloitte UK publishes 2026 financial results [Deloitte UK]
Darren Graves, Deloitte UK CEO, said: “This is a good set of results delivered against a complicated backdrop of geopolitical uncertainty and AI advancement. Our results are testament to the hard work of our people and partners. We saw an increase in revenue across all our UK businesses and were pleased that our advisory businesses returned to profitable growth.”
Deloitte partner pay rises to record £1.1mn as firm cuts staff [Financial Times]
Deloitte paid its UK-based partners a record £1.13mn last year after the Big Four firm cut costs and jobs as it attempted to counter AI disruption of the accounting and consulting sector.
