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Offshoring
Big Four’s use of offshore auditors sparks concern from UK accounting watchdog [Financial Times]
The Financial Reporting Council said on Wednesday that accounting firms were increasingly incorporating offshore teams into UK audit work under “extended team models”. This included relying on offshore teams for work requiring “professional judgement”, it said, moving beyond the longstanding practice of using overseas staff for routine testing and administrative work.
Why the FRC is targeting offshore audit work and what your firm must do [AccountancyAge]
While the Big Four (PwC, Deloitte, EY, and KPMG) and mid-tier practices have relied on offshore hubs for years to offset UK staffing shortages, the regulator’s message is unequivocal: you can outsource the work, but you cannot outsource accountability.
The Early Career Gauntlet
Accounting’s next challenge: Guarding what AI can’t replace [CFO Dive]
Writes Trullion CEO Artie Minson:
AI is now capable of performing many of the tasks that used to occupy a staff auditor’s first two years. It reads PDFs and extracts data in seconds, not days. It tests entire populations rather than small samples. It matches records in real time instead of during the late nights of a tight audit deadline. For firms, that’s an obvious win on cost and quality. But it raises questions about the new wave of professionals. If a new accountant never spends the early years of their career understanding how transactions flow through accounting records and how different systems should and should not correlate to one another, do they still build the instinct and experience that comes from doing it the hard way?
UK CFOs cite cost as top reason for pull back on graduate hiring [CFO.com]
Sixty-four percent of the U.K. CFOs working in FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies surveyed by Deloitte said broader business cost-control efforts will reduce graduate hiring over the next 12 months, making it the biggest factor weighing on recruitment plans. The findings come from Deloitte’s latest CFO Survey of U.K.-based finance chiefs. The survey suggests AI is beginning to reshape workforce planning, but many organizations are still making hiring decisions primarily through tighter budgets and cost discipline. Artificial intelligence ranked as the second biggest “dampener of demand” for new graduate hires, selected by 47% of respondents, followed by outsourcing at 33%.
Audit
South Korea opens big 4 audits to mid-sized firms, tightens quality oversight [Chosun Biz]
Financial authorities will revamp the auditor designation system so that capable mid-sized accounting firms can also be designated as auditors for large listed companies. In addition, large accounting firms will be required to set up audit quality oversight committees centered on external experts, and the eligibility requirements for CEOs of listed companies’ auditors will be strengthened to raise the overall quality of audits.
Regulator flags BDO’s ‘unacceptable’ audit issues for fifth year in a row [City AM]
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said in its yearly audit quality report that BDO’s overall audit quality fell below expected standards and “has received unsatisfactory results from regulatory inspections” consistently for five years. The firm was found to have performed the worst among the six largest audit firms.
Federal Contracts
‘Stop feeding the beast’: Newly released data reveals Labor’s ongoing ‘addiction’ to KPMG [PS News]
Newly published biannual government data on consulting services shows the Big Four accounting firm has new contracts worth more than $2 million, and between January and July this year it held active contracts worth $51.4 million. Ironically, one of its current contracts is with the Australian Public Service Commission to teach ethics and leadership to public service leaders.
Municipal Madness
In rare Idaho state audit of a city, report finds major procedural shortcomings in Kamiah’s spending [Idaho Capital Sun]
“The level of missing documentation across all financial transactions reviewed is very concerning,” the report said. “We were unable to determine if the missing documentation was due to incompetence or fraudulent activities, but it does call into question the integrity of many transactions.”
Cary residents call for Council resignations after state audit details questionable spending [WRAL]
Calls for Cary Town Council members to resign are growing after a state audit uncovered years of questionable spending and raised concerns about the town’s financial oversight. Residents packed a Cary Town Council meeting this week, with the session lasting more than five hours. It was the first council meeting since the release of the state’s 2,600-page audit.
Milton City Council frets over lack of communication in audit crisis [Pensacola News Journal]
As the city of Milton works to dig out from a financial disaster and yet another credibility crisis, City Manager Ed Spears was called upon July 23 to explain to the City Council why they didn’t learn sooner about a “discrepancy” of approximately $590,906 existing between city financial records and bank balances.
Macquarie orders ‘integrity’ review amid questions over KPMG audit win [Financial Review]
Macquarie chairman Glenn Stevens says the investment banking and asset management giant will review the appointment of KPMG as its auditor, raising the prospect that it could ditch the firm before it starts in the role. Stevens, a former Reserve Bank of Australia governor, said the Macquarie board had already made “formal inquiries of KPMG” given a stream of departures after senior figures at the auditing firm were caught inappropriately using confidential client files to win contracts.
Private Equity
Private equity reshaping Irish accountancy as 21 deals struck in just over a year [Irish Independent]
The difference in the Irish accountancy practice of today is not just the disappearance of the ledger books and filing cabinets, long since replaced by software programmes on laptops – it’s the composition of the firms themselves. A slew of mom-and-pop firms have been bought by large conglomerates, mostly funded by private equity (PE).
India
Why a New Regulatory Framework Has Sparked One of the Biggest Battles in India’s Accounting Industry [Indian Masterminds]
India has set itself an ambitious goal of becoming a global economic powerhouse. It wants Indian companies to compete with multinational corporations, Indian professionals to lead international industries, and domestic institutions to shape global standards. Yet, amid these aspirations, one of the country’s oldest and most respected professions finds itself facing an uncomfortable question: can India truly build world-class accounting firms while its own regulatory framework continues to place domestic players at a structural disadvantage?
M&A
Doeren Mayhew Expands in Houston with Sowers & Company Acquisition [Doeren Mayhew]
DM announced two acquisitions this week:
Doeren Mayhew has acquired Houston CPA firm Sowers & Company, further building its local tax and outsourced accounting capabilities. All Sowers & Company employees joined Doeren Mayhew as of June 18, 2026, and have relocated to Doeren Mayhew’s Houston office.
Doeren Mayhew Expands Florida’s Gulf Coast Presence with Addition of McMillan, Whiteman & Associates PLLC [DM]
Doeren Mayhew, a national assurance, tax and advisory firm, has completed its acquisition of Florida-based McMillan, Whiteman & Associates PLLC (MWA), effective June 30, 2026. The MWA team now operates out of their Punta Gorda office under the Doeren Mayhew brand name. The acquisition strengthens Doeren Mayhew’s presence along Florida’s Gulf Coast, one of the state’s fastest-growing regions for privately held businesses and high-net-worth individuals.