Over the past year and a half, the PCAOB’s gotten tougher with audit firms, levying record fines and decrying an increase in deficiencies.

The results of a recent inspection report won’t give it much reason to soften its stance.

Deficiencies in audits of broker-dealers increased for the third straight year in 2023, the PCAOB found. Of the 103 audits of broker-dealer financial reports it examined, 70% had deficiencies, up from 58% in 2022 and 49% in 2021.

Deficiency rates were high across all categories of broker-dealer engagements, not just audits, something the PCAOB described as “cause for significant concern.” The agency found deficiencies in two-thirds of compliance report examination engagements, and 40% of reviews of exemption reports.

More than half of the deficiencies the PCAOB identified (56%) were due to auditors’ using insufficient or inappropriate evidence to support their audit opinions, up from 50% in 2022. Fourteen percent were attributed to noncompliance with laws and regulations, versus 8% in 2022.

For more on audit deficiencies, click here.—CV

Automation could be the key to elevating your accounting team’s capabilities. What makes this possible? A little tool called GenAI.

Learn how you can boost your accounting team into an exponential organization at Klarity's GenAI Summit. CFOs, CAOs, and controllers from companies like DoorDash, Cloudflare, and Zoom will share their learnings from deploying GenAI into their operations.

Klarity’s event will focus on automation in operational accounting: SOX controls around data accuracy, order management, ASC 606 and 842 assurance, and accounts payable automation will be on top of the agenda. See how your team can:

• Deliver more accurate financial data.
• Get every transaction processed in real time.
• Reduce OpEx (psst, CEOs, you may like the sound of this one).

It’s all going down on Sept. 12 in San Francisco. Register here.

Is it cool to use AI in the hiring process? That may depend on which side of the desk you’re on.

For CFOs considering an investment in AI for hiring, there’s a big gulf to consider. HR personnel and job seekers have very different views on AI’s role in hiring, a new survey by HireVue reveals. Almost three-quarters (73%) of the 1,000 HR professionals HireVue surveyed said they trusted AI to make candidate recommendations. Nearly half said they’d be comfortable using AI throughout the hiring process.

But the majority of the 3,100 workers HireVue polled distrust AI when it comes to the hiring process. Almost 8 in 10 said they want to know if a company’s using AI during hiring, and three-quarters said they don’t approve of the use of AI to make final hiring decisions. Only half were comfortable with companies’ using it to review applications, and just 37% thought it outperformed humans at finding qualified applicants.

Qualms about bias: Studies have shown that AI could introduce bias into the hiring process. Some algorithms have been found to produce biased results: ChatGPT, for instance, ranked identical resumes differently when it was given names associated with different gender or ethnic groups.

For more on AI and hiring risks, click here.—CV

McDonald’s earnings release on Monday was less ba-da bing than it was ba-da dun dun dunnn. The ominous notes are another sign that consumers with less cash have even less willingness to spend it after prices on menus and across the economy have climbed in recent years.

The fast-food chain reported worse-than-expected earnings and revenue for Q2, as its same-store sales fell 0.7% in the US for the first time in nearly four years, CNBC reported. Its 1% global YoY drop was even more dramatic in light of the 10.3% jump in same-store sales it reported for the same period last year.

The shine has been a bit duller on the golden arches, both in the US and globally, “pinched by years of price increases and tight household budgets,” Bloomberg reported. Year to date, Mickey D’s shares were down 15% at last week’s close, a mirror image of the S&P 500’s year-to-date growth of 14%.

McPatience. Executives will have to wait “until later this year” to see whether and how much their value meal promotion starting in late June has increased sales, according to Bloomberg, although the company reported that cell-phone tracking and other data showed that more people—including low-income patrons—have been visiting the restaurants since May, when the $5 meal deal was announced.

Click here to continue reading.—GD