Obtaining good quality, consistent data from clients is one of the most undervalued yet critical parts of the entire data auditing process. Manually extracting and transforming client data can be lengthy, frustrating and error-prone, often leading to sub-par outcomes and fractious client relationships. Technology like the Integration Engine automates these challenges and streamlines the whole extraction and transformation process, allowing auditors to make use of clients' data in a standard format time after time, regardless of client system or customisations. It opens a raft of opportunities to use data in new ways, driven by a unified common data model, saving time and energy, reducing the risk of errors, and helping auditors stay on top of data quality, all of which is hugely beneficial, not only for the auditor but also the client.
Ian Pay
Head of Data Analytics & Tech, ICAEW