The Automated Financial Statement Review Tool – An Auditor’s Secret Weapon

The financial statement review process is broken. For decades, accounting professionals have been performing reviews of financial statements using spreadsheets and manual checks. But as reporting requirements grow more complex, relying on manual processes and Excel-bound tools is no longer enough to uncover every casting error, mismatched disclosure or missing piece of information.  

They consume too much time.  

Excel add-in tools cause crashes that result in lost work.  

The process wears down talented staff who spend significant time rechecking and rekeying data.  

And they increase the risk of reporting errors because of tight deadlines and fragmented reviews. 

What is a review of financial statements? 

A review of manual financial statements during an audit involves the examination and verification of financial documents that are prepared or maintained using manual processes, often through spreadsheets like Excel or even paper records. This review process includes checking for accuracy, consistency and compliance with accounting standards and regulatory requirements. Auditors manually validate calculations, trace transactions back to source documents and confirm the integrity of financial data. 

Because these statements are not automatically updated or validated by software, the process is typically more time-consuming and prone to human error. Auditors must thoroughly inspect for common issues such as data entry errors, formula mistakes and version control problems, all of which can significantly impact the accuracy and reliability of the financial statements. 

Manual reviews are slowing teams down 

Manual financial statement reviews slow down reporting cycles. Financial reports grew by 46 percent between 2016 and 2021, according to The QCA. And with disclosure requirements and regulatory complexity increasing over time, reports continue to expand. At the same time, finance teams need to complete over 450 checks for each statement and sometimes navigate through more than 10 drafts before reaching the final version. 

The game changer: AI-powered financial validation 

Fortunately, there’s now an alternative to manual financial statement reviews and Excel-bound tools. AI-powered, cloud-based tools save you time and reduce errors. They let you: 

The days of painstakingly combing through spreadsheets and manually checking for errors are gone. As the demands of financial reporting grow more complex, firms need smarter, faster ways to ensure accuracy and compliance. AI-powered financial statement review and validation tools, like Caseware Validate, are transforming how audits are performed by reducing manual effort, minimizing errors and accelerating review times. Embracing this technology not only enhances efficiency but also allows auditors to focus on high-value analysis instead of data wrangling. Discover how you can streamline your financial statement reviews with Caseware Validate here.