Message from our Managing Partner
Welcome to our 2021 KPMG Transparency report. 2021 has been another year filled with opportunity, challenge and a renewed focus on purpose in business.
At the time of writing this we continue to be appalled by the horrific events taking place in the Ukraine. We can only hope for a quick and peaceful resolution to these hostilities and pray for the people of Ukraine, including our KPMG colleagues. The response to this crisis reminds us of the important role and responsibility business leaders have in ensuring society is safe and fair for all.
I am very proud of how all parts of our business have performed over the last year thanks to the tremendous efforts of our people. Our audit business has always been at the heart of our firm and executing our audits to the highest quality is core to our ambition. We recognise the trust that companies, regulators and others place in us to deliver high quality audits that contribute to financial reporting integrity so that investors have the confidence and trust to make key decisions. In this Transparency Report we have shared the details of our approach to audit quality and the initiatives implemented to ensure we continue to maintain a relentless focus on quality to justify the trust placed in us by the various stakeholders we serve.
I’ve been honoured to lead our firm over the last three years, and it was a real privilege to be re-elected in 2021 as the firm’s Managing Partner for the next three years. I am proud of what we have achieved through a hugely turbulent period and am very optimistic about our future. The success of our firm is 100% down to our people, their individual and collective commitment to our clients and stakeholders and their relentless focus on quality in our audit practice. I would like to thank Sean O’Keefe for leading the practice over this period and welcome Emer McGrath to her new role as Head of Audit.
The world is changing at an extraordinary pace. In the period since our last Transparency Report, we continued to be faced with an ever-changing business landscape. Our people demonstrated huge resilience and remained committed to maintaining high quality deliverables throughout.
Seamus Hand
Managing Partner
KPMG in Ireland
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Our impact
In this ever-evolving world and particularly in more recent times we are very conscious of the vulnerability of our society to external factors and the need for companies to be run in a manner that has purpose and is socially responsible. KPMG remains determined to make a positive impact on the world, driven by our purpose, ‘to inspire confidence and empower change’. That is why our business is today actively focused on measuring our impact and I am very pleased to share our second Impact Report alongside our Transparency Report for 2021. Our Impact Report brings together all our environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments, setting out our progress against the World Economic Forum International Business Council Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics and demonstrates our commitment to improving our impact and our openness to being accountable.
The challenges presented by the pandemic over the past number of years have changed the nature of how we engage with our clients as well as the way we work, learn and exchange ideas. Over the last year we have been considering the impact of these changes and designing what our future of work will look like informed by these learnings.
Our reconnection programme commenced in October and through this we have been bringing our people back to the office through our new hybrid working model. This new model is a mix of in-presence and remote working, enabling our people to get the best of both working experiences and will evolve as we continue to learn from the past for the future.
Our firm has grown strongly over the last twelve months and we have invested heavily in resources to meet this demand. Integrating and upskilling these new members of our team has therefore been a key focus. We strive to lead by example through demonstrating leadership behaviours focused on quality and ensuring our “tone at the top” supports our culture, centred on and guided by our values. They drive our daily behaviours, guide our decisions, and shape our ethical culture.
Investment and innovation
From a technology and innovation perspective we’ve continued to invest in our system of quality management, ongoing monitoring of audit quality, and enhanced support. We’re also expanding access and training for innovative technology and tools for our engagement teams, such as KPMG Clara, our smart audit platform, to drive consistency, collaboration and efficiency.
Audit at the heart
We remain committed to the maintenance of high quality across our business and never compromising regardless of the changes experienced. During the year our firm and individual audits were subject to inspection by our regulator, the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority (IAASA). All of our firm’s interactions with our regulator are thorough and help support our continuous improvement agenda. We take on board the points arising from the reviews and from internal reviews by KPMG International by designing remediation plans which address the issues raised. This process forms a core part of our ongoing journey to enhance audit quality.
In the message from our Head of Audit, Sean provides some insights into how the above have been brought to life in our audit practice.
I trust that the information provided in this Transparency Report demonstrates that maintaining our focus on quality is critical to our business and our responsibilities to society. I am happy to engage with and discuss any aspects of our business with any of our stakeholders.
Seamus Hand
Managing Partner
28th April 2022
Downloads
Previous reports
- KPMG Transparency Report 2020 (PDF, 2.1MB)
- KPMG Transparency Report 2019 (PDF, 11MB)
- KPMG Transparency Report 2018 (PDF, 1.0MB)
- Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement (PDF, 158KB)
- Transparency Report 2017 (PDF, 844.3KB)
- Transparency Report 2016 (PDF, 2.4MB)
