Accounting

The next generation’s view of risk management: career or steppingstone?

Published

1 year ago

July 18, 2025

A great benefit of my five-decade career in internal auditing and risk management is the opportunity to work with young people.

Whether working alongside freshly minted graduates early in my career, working as an adjunct college professor in my mid-career, or speaking at colleges and universities today, being around young, eager minds is simply uplifting and inspiring for me.

So, it should come as no surprise that a recent visit to a major university provided fresh inspiration and insights including this one: The next generation is more likely to see accounting or internal auditing not as a career but as a steppingstone. And here’s the shocker — that may not be a dreadful thing.

One of the biggest challenges facing internal auditing and accounting is recruiting the next generation of workers to each respective profession. The growing use of advanced technology, primarily artificial intelligence, promises significant changes in how accountants and internal auditors will work in the future. To be sure, some speculate AI could soon doom both professions to irrelevance. But as I noted in a recent blog post, the changing nature of our professions may position them for success in the AI era.

This is particularly relevant to how the next generation sees our professions and the kind of work that will attract them. As the first true digital natives, Gen Z and millennials are naturally comfortable with digital tools and platforms, often mastering them with ease. What’s more, this influences how they work, learn and what they expect from their jobs.

So, what does this mean to our professions?

Deloitte’s 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey addresses this question nicely. The survey of more than 23,000 young people concludes they are seeking a balance of money, meaning and well-being. From the report:

“Career fluidity is a defining feature of the modern workforce: Nearly one third (31%) of Gen Zs plan to switch employers in the next two years. And while millennials may be more settled in their careers, 17% say they plan to leave their employers within two years. Their job hopping is not driven by a lack of loyalty. Many Gen Zs and millennials see it as a strategy to seek stability, better work-life balance, a greater sense of purpose, and an opportunity to learn and acquire new skills.”

This observation is backed up by longer-term data collected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Its Employer Tenure in 2024 report found the median number of years that wage and salary workers had been at their current jobs dropped to 3.9 years in January 2024, the lowest since 2002. The report found workers between 25 and 34 years of age had a median job tenure of 2.7 years compared to 4.6 years for those 35-44, 7 years for those 45-54, and 9.6 years for those 55-64.

This data supports my sense that the next generation is looking for jobs that will challenge them, give them opportunities to grow their skills, and provide the work-life balance they rate so highly. These factors also support the idea that young people are leveraging jobs in internal auditing and accounting as steppingstones to opportunity, not somewhere they will stay for a lifetime.

Here’s why that’s not a bad thing. If accounting and internal auditing are viewed as the front door to other career paths, we can succeed in recruiting top talent. The challenge is to present accounting and internal auditing as attractive, even exciting, steppingstones that offer stimulating and meaningful work, the opportunity to travel, competitive wages, and what I call a crow’s nest view of the enterprise. This last aspect could be particularly alluring to younger workers if they see it as an opportunity to identify where they might go next.

Interestingly, the Deloitte survey found that the traditional ambition of “climbing the corporate ladder” is not particularly attractive to Gen Z. Indeed, the report found only 6% say their primary career goal is to reach a leadership position. However, those views could change over time, and a broad base of experience gleaned over numerous stops could be the ideal training for leadership roles within internal audit, finance or the C-suite.

I’ve had a chance to meet many people who came to internal auditing early in their careers, had a prosperous tenure there, then went into the business, who were later tapped to come back to be the chief audit executive. I’m one of them. It’s not a badge of shame to leave internal audit because that may be your best strategy for a leadership role.

From an executive management perspective, this is an ideal strategy; leverage internal auditing and accounting to lure great talent into the organization.

I have written extensively in the past decade about how growing risk velocity, an increasingly volatile risk landscape, digital disruption and a sense of permacrisis are dramatically changing risk management. How we manage these new challenges will define the future not only for accounting and internal auditing, but for business. What I’ve learned is that trying to fit this new reality into traditional approaches to business will never succeed. We must accept change and embrace chaos.

And so it is with the views of the next generation of workers. They hold the key to balancing humanity with technology. We shouldn’t get caught up in whether we will capture the best and the brightest for the next 40 years. But while we have them, we must ensure they develop the key skills that accounting and internal audit offer that AI cannot deliver: critical thinking, relationship acumen, intellectual curiosity, empathy and ethical resilience.

Accounting

Continuous Auditing Transforms Corporate ERPs

Published

5 days ago

July 21, 2026

Business Finance News

continuous auditing transforms corporate erps

As corporate accounting departments cross the threshold into late July 2026, the adoption of continuous, automated auditing systems has reached a definitive turning point. Driven by advances in artificial intelligence and deep integration with modern Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platforms, leading finance organizations are moving away from traditional, periodic post-hoc audits in favor of real-time, 100% transactional verification. This technological transition is redefining internal control environments, reducing compliance costs, and eliminating the structural delays inherent in legacy quarterly closing processes.

Unlike traditional auditing frameworks that rely on statistical sampling—a process that inevitably leaves operational blind spots—continuous auditing software monitors operational data feeds continuously. Every purchase order, electronic invoice, payroll disbursement, and cross-border wire transfer is automatically cross-referenced against established corporate governance parameters, regulatory tax schedules, and anti-fraud algorithms in real time. Anomalies or unauthorized ledger entries are flagged instantly, allowing internal audit teams to investigate and remediate compliance gaps immediately rather than months after the close of a financial period.

The implications for executive financial management are far-reaching. By embedding continuous verification directly into daily transaction workflows, chief financial officers gain uninterrupted visibility into the organization’s true financial standing. Real-time balance sheet auditing eliminates the severe operational bottlenecks associated with month-end and quarter-end financial reconciliations, freeing accounting professionals to focus on strategic financial modeling, tax planning, and capital allocation rather than manual data entry and spreadsheet consolidation.

However, implementing continuous auditing requires accounting leadership to invest heavily in data governance and technical upskilling. Internal audit teams must evolve from manual ledger reviewers into system architects capable of auditing complex algorithms and validating automated data pipelines. Accounting firms and corporate controllers that master continuous auditing will establish a resilient compliance framework capable of meeting stringent international regulatory standards with total transparency.

Accounting

U.S. Imposes New 50% Tariffs on Canadian Imports Under Rare Legal Provision

Published

6 days ago

July 20, 2026

Business Finance News

U.S. Imposes New 50% Tariffs on Canadian Imports Under Rare Legal Provision

WASHINGTON — In a major escalation of cross-border trade friction, U.S. President Donald Trump has signed executive orders imposing new 50% tariffs on a wide selection of Canadian exports, citing discriminatory practices by Ottawa targeting American auto, dairy, and beverage industries.

The new duties, announced Monday, will take effect in 30 days. They target a broad spectrum of consumer and industrial goods—ranging from wine, liquor, and milk products to commercial cement, furniture, clothing, and hockey equipment.

Untested Legal Mechanism

To enact the sweeping measures, the administration invoked Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930—a rarely used legal provision allowing the executive branch to levy additional tariffs of up to 50% on foreign nations deemed to discriminate against U.S. commerce.

White House officials noted that Section 338 addresses trade discrimination rather than national security or economic emergencies. The move comes months after prior global emergency tariffs faced legal challenges in domestic courts, signaling Washington’s pivot toward alternate statutory authorities to maintain import duties.

Senior administration officials briefed reporters that the measure directly responds to Canadian provincial bans on U.S. alcohol, restrictions on American vehicle exports, and import quota disparities affecting U.S. dairy and cheese producers relative to third-party trading partners.

“While the administration continues to secure reciprocal trade agreements globally, Canada retaliated against efforts to protect domestic industry,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer stated.

USMCA Impact and Carve-Outs

Significantly, the newly ordered 50% duties will apply to designated items even if they otherwise comply with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

However, the administration confirmed key targeted exemptions:

Energy products (including oil and natural gas)
Potash and critical minerals
Fish and seafood
Goods already governed by sector-specific duties (such as existing steel and aluminum tariffs)

Administration representatives emphasized that the tariffs do not stem from recent disputes concerning drifting Canadian wildfire smoke, noting that policy options regarding environmental spillover remain under separate review.

Canadian Response and Market Reaction

Following the White House announcement, the Canadian dollar experienced a sharp decline against the U.S. dollar, falling approximately 0.4% during evening trading.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney issued a statement emphasizing that Canada’s earlier counter-duties had merely matched previous U.S. trade actions. “Canada stands ready to engage intensively to address outstanding issues with the U.S. to the mutual benefit of our citizens,” Carney stated, pointing to detailed proposals Ottawa submitted to modernize the USMCA framework.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford took a firmer stance, urging a “dollar-for-dollar” reciprocal response if the measures go into effect on August 19.

With a 30-day implementation window before the duties officially lock in, industry associations and trade groups on both sides of the border are calling for urgent bilateral negotiations to avert further supply chain disruption across North America.

Accounting

Automated Continuous Auditing: Transforming Compliance and Real-Time Financial Oversight

Published

6 days ago

July 20, 2026

Business Finance News

Transforming Compliance and Real-Time Financial Oversight

The traditional accounting paradigm—defined by periodic monthly closures and post-hoc annual audits—is rapidly giving way to continuous, automated financial oversight. As of July 2026, forward-thinking accounting practices and multinational corporate finance departments are leveraging continuous auditing systems powered by advanced machine learning models. These systems monitor operational transactions in real time, shifting audit methodologies from sample-based post-analysis to absolute, 100% transaction-level verification.

The operational advantages of continuous auditing are transformative. Standard auditing procedures historically relied on statistical sampling, which, despite rigorous methodology, inherently left gaps where anomalies or fraudulent transactions could go undetected for months. Modern continuous auditing platforms integrate directly with enterprise resource planning (ERP) databases, instantly cross-referencing purchase orders, invoices, bank feeds, and tax records. Any deviation from established control parameters or unusual transaction behavior triggers immediate flags for internal audit teams, dramatically reducing detection lag from quarters to seconds.

Beyond fraud prevention, continuous auditing fundamentally alters internal reporting and decision-making. Executive leadership no longer has to wait weeks after the close of a quarter to evaluate precise financial standing; real-time verified ledger data provides an uninterrupted view of operating margins, tax liabilities, and cash flow dynamics. This real-time visibility enables corporate controllers to adjust capital allocation strategies dynamically, mitigating liquidity constraints and capitalizing on emerging commercial opportunities far more efficiently than competitors bound to legacy reporting cycles.

However, implementing continuous auditing requires accounting professionals to acquire new analytical capabilities. The role of the auditor is evolving from manual data reconciliation toward system validation, algorithmic model governance, and strategic risk interpretation. Accounting firms and corporate finance departments must invest in continuous technical education, ensuring that audit staff possess the data engineering skills necessary to design, maintain, and evaluate complex automated compliance systems.