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AI
PwC’s US CEO built an AI assistant called ‘PG’s Whisperer.’ He talks to it all day. [Business Insider]
Well at least someone is glazing up ol’ PG, he’s not too popular among the flesh and blood plebs below him.
The Big Four leader told Business Insider that he “got nudged” to experiment with AI more and now keeps two chat systems open on his phone and computer throughout the day. He declined to name which models he uses, but said his go-to tool is a custom AI model he dubbed “PG’s Whisperer,” which he created using two different models. “I use PG’s Whisperer all day long, and then I contrast and compare information,” Griggs said.
The Big Four have now all been caught passing off generative content as ‘thought leadership’ [Consultancy.uk]
The consulting industry’s four biggest players have long used whitepapers and surveys as a means to drum up business – indicating expertise on key specialisms and topical issues their clients are responding to. But in their haste to present as ‘artificial intelligence-led’, KPMG, Deloitte, EY, and now PwC, have potentially alienated customers on this front, by releasing so-called ‘thought leadership’ which has been alleged to be majority-generated by AI.
EY Launching Unit to Keep a Lid on Artificial Intelligence Costs [Bloomberg]
EY is hiring a head of “agent economics” to oversee the growing ranks of its AI-powered workforce, in a sign that white-collar companies are increasing scrutiny on whether their investments in AI technology are justifying the huge cost. The executive will lead the firm’s new AI value realization office to give leadership “end-to-end visibility of where and how our investments in AI are driving material and tangible impact in our business,” said Dan Diasio, EY global consulting AI leader.
Audit Firms Rebuilding Around AI Earn 22-Point Profitability Edge, Study Finds [Tech Times]
Audit and advisory firms that have structurally rebuilt their operations around AI now outperform firms that use AI only occasionally by 22 percentage points on profitability — and the gap appears to be compounding, not stabilizing. That is the headline finding from a new survey released August 13 by Fieldguide, a San Francisco-based platform used by accounting and advisory firms to run engagement workflows. The research was commissioned by Fieldguide and conducted by TrendCandy; readers should weigh the findings in that commercial context, as all statistics are self-reported and the study describes correlation, not causation.
Big 4
EY vaults from bottom to top of Big Four US audit quality league table [Financial Times]
EY has shed its status as the Big Four accounting firm with the worst record in US audit inspections, vaulting to lead the regulator’s audit quality league table jointly with Deloitte. The improvement comes after EY US restructured its audit division, invested in new technology and shed some tricky clients, having labelled its performance since 2021 as “unacceptable”.
KPMG Australia facing ‘many more’ whistleblower misconduct claims, parliamentary probe hears [Reuters]
“Many, many more” whistleblowers have come forward with reports of misconduct at KPMG Australia, a parliamentary committee probing alleged client data leaks at the firm heard on Friday, raising concerns about a broader pattern of wrongdoing. The scandal erupted in March following allegations made by an anonymous whistleblower that KPMG misused confidential client information to bid for audit contracts.
KPMG instructed to disclose any payments made to staff who raised wrongdoing [Accounting Times]
“I’m looking for a comprehensive list of matters which have been dealt with in this way,” Greens Senator Barbara Pocock told the former partners at a parliamentary hearing, adding that she would be seeking cases of settlement payments of a minimum of $10,000. “Now they may extend across a wide range of issues. They may be about issues of ethics or internal behaviour. They may relate to sexual harassment. There may be other matters, but I’m seeking an appropriately anonymised listing of that.”
Cheerleaders of the Profession
There has never been a better time to become a CPA [The Journal Record (Oklahoma)]
Writes Mark Neumeister, CPA, 2026-2027 OSCPA chair and tax partner at Arledge:
Technology, including artificial intelligence, is changing how CPAs work, but it cannot replace the qualities that define the profession. It can’t build trust, exercise professional judgment, or understand a client’s unique circumstances. When families are planning for the future or business owners are making critical financial decisions, people still need people. For students exploring career options, or professionals considering a career change, there has never been a better time to become a CPA. It offers opportunities in public accounting, private industry, government, education, nonprofit organizations, and entrepreneurship. Whether you’re helping a Fortune 500 company navigate complex regulations or advising a local small business, no two CPA careers look exactly alike.
Industry Trends
What Grant Thornton’s acquisition of CBIZ actually signals [Thomson Reuters]
Expect 8 to 10 publicly traded CPA firms to be acquired within three to five years — The Big Four are simply too large for private equity to absorb; and that leaves only a narrow top-tier of firms running alongside the broader PE consolidation wave.
Law & Order
Ex-Deloitte IT manager remanded for stealing 423 laptops to fund stock trading [South China Morning Post]
A former Deloitte information technology (IT) manager has been remanded in custody pending sentence for stealing 423 laptops from the accounting firm’s Hong Kong office over 17 months to fund his stock trading addiction. Ho Man-kit, 40, pleaded guilty to a count of theft at the District Court on Tuesday, after he misappropriated Lenovo computers worth HK$1.2 million (US$153,000) and sold them to an electronics recycler between September 2021 and February 2023. Under caution, Ho said he had lost all illegal proceeds through unsuccessful stock trading and remained in debt.
Romeo Santos Sues Accounting Firm for $2.3 Million Over Alleged Tax Errors, Mismanagement [Rolling Stone]
Grammy-nominated Latin music superstar Romeo Santos is suing his accounting and business management firm, claiming more than $2 million in losses. In a lawsuit filed in Miami federal court, Santos alleges the firm Morrison Brown Argiz & Farra LLP, now known as BDO, failed to file his complex, multi-state tax returns correctly and let his large cash balance sit idle in his checking account, “earning nothing.”
New Jersey township CFO charged with theft by deception [CFO.com]
Cameron Keng, CFO of Franklin Township, New Jersey, was arrested Aug. 4 and charged with one count of third-degree theft by deception, according to a news release issued by Renée Robeson, prosecutor for Hunterdon County. Keng’s arrest came after Unity Bank found a double-billing scheme amid its investigation into payroll fee transactions in Franklin Township.
Tax
Man mistakenly declared dead by IRS [KJCT]
An Alabama man found himself in a frustrating and bizarre scenario when he was declared dead by the IRS while he was still alive.
Another Taxpayer Who Bought Tribal Tax Credits Sues Promoter [Bloomberg Tax]
A Florida taxpayer is suing his financial adviser after buying nonexistent sovereign tribal tax credits. Miami entrepreneur Damian Martinez said in a complaint that he paid $219,000 for $365,000 worth of tax credits on his 2024 federal income tax return. But the IRS disallowed the credits and assessed interest and penalties. Martinez is suing Wealth Innovation Group, a Utah tax strategy firm, and Carson Grover, the director of advanced planning at WIG.
IRS staffing cuts delayed paper returns and refunds, report says [The Tax Adviser]
Well duh.
Most taxpayers experienced a relatively normal 2026 filing season, but those who relied on paper returns, paper refund checks, or IRS in-person customer service faced longer delays as staffing losses and technology problems slowed agency operations, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. The report, dated July 23 and released Monday, found that the IRS’s individual paper return processing system could not process 2025 tax year returns during the first six weeks of filing season, while a scanning system used for business paper returns was unavailable throughout filing season.
IRS Proposes Rules on Reporting Exception for Certain Trusts [Bloomberg Tax]
The IRS on Friday proposed rules on reporting requirements for certain trusts on charitable contributions. The rules (REG-109082-25, RIN 1545-BR58) created an exception for when a trust’s only charitable deduction comes from contributions made by partnerships or S corporations where the trust holds interest, the trust doesn’t need to report the deduction on Form 1041-A.
