Transparency Report 2022
Looking back at FY22, many Australians faced extended lockdowns followed by periods of disruption in business compounded with shortage of workforce, rising inflation and interest rates. What became even more apparent to us as a result of these factors was just how much we really needed to live and breathe the “GT Way” by sticking to our strategy – CARE for our clients and our people by putting people first. I would like to thank both our clients and people for their ongoing support.
The Audit industry, both internationally and nationally, has been impacted by the lack of attractiveness of the industry to young professionals, constraints on cross-border workforce, significant change from technology, strong activity in the market – especially experienced in our target market, and increased awareness of quality and regulatory matters.
The activity in the marketplace has focused our team on where we can deliver the best outcomes for our clients as well as development for our people. Our people have grown professionally from these experiences. From the Executive right through to our graduates, we built upon and encouraged all our people to really embrace and share our CARE values of Collaboration, Authenticity, Responsibility and Excellence. Our clients have noticed the CARE values represent what we do best at Grant Thornton, and these core values are what sets us apart from other professional services firms.
Aligned with our CARE values, in FY22 we launched our new brand promise Reach for Remarkable, representing the firm’s commitment to providing a remarkable experience for our clients, communities and people.
Our people promise means we are committed to supporting our people to thrive, and this importantly includes enabling our team members to parent and give care to their loved ones, work with truly flexible working options, and to feel included. As part of our CARE values strategy, we have implemented meaningful mental health and diversity and inclusion initiatives.
By putting our people first and recognising their need for support, flexibility, education and inclusion, and enacting upon these key areas, we have seen an uplift in our people’s engagement and satisfaction, and the client experience is notably different.
We are working hard to bring forward the adoption of technology to transform the audit process.
In the process of automating our audits, we have heavily invested in technology to make our audits more efficient and improve the quality of our work. With the increase in data volumes we have been able to provide meaningful insights on key risks and business processes. We can also spend a greater proportion of the audit looking at areas of risk and dedicating more time to those areas where judgement must be employed. Reducing the extent of mundane and repetitive tasks is broadening the opportunity for our people to apply critical thinking and has supported us in attracting the best talent.
The fast-paced thinking around Sustainability and ESG has garnered positive outcomes for our clients and people in Australia. Grant Thornton is committed to sustainable practices that positively impact our people, environment and communities. We are working internally and with the market to develop best practice policies and how to measure and report on sustainability. It’s a personal passion of mine to see the corporate world incorporate these positive behaviours and believe it will have a significant impact on the financial reporting process in the future.
Everyone in the industry is looking at how to do things differently while keeping within the confines of what auditing standards are asking for; there will always be a balance between regulator expectations and what audit firms can deliver. The real challenge for the profession is to be more collaborative with the regulators and to share the expertise we are building within our practices and firms to work together. This collaboration will ensure that regulations and standards are more able to support what we can do with technologies and data insights, which will ultimately improve client outcomes and the experience for auditors.
At Grant Thornton we have invested in understanding the root cause of quality drivers as well as the impact of ISQM on our business. The successful audit firm of the future is going to understand their target market and audit offering, invest in its people, develop a culture of collaboration and trust in the process of innovation. At Grant Thornton we are on our way to becoming a future-proofed firm with continued investment in our people, combined with audit quality at the essence of what we deliver.
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