Audit

Why Audit at KPMG?

Audit is the largest of our UK practices. Some of the world's biggest companies rely on us to provide independent insight, challenge and expertise. The work we undertake makes a meaningful difference to businesses and communities – it affects investment decisions and supports economic growth. As part of our Audit community, you'll be helping to build the confidence and trust that business and society need to thrive.

Our Audit teams deliver quality outcomes by working to the very highest auditing standards and provide businesses with the insights they need to navigate a continually evolving regulatory environment. Through this work, we’re also committed to helping to build sustainable organisations from an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) perspective. The work is challenging, but you’ll have the KPMG community at your side, empowering you to be at your best.

We want to lead the conversation when it comes to shaping the future of the profession. And given the scale and variety of our audit engagements in both the UK and globally, we are well placed to create this change. To better challenge assumptions and provide deeper insights, we also continue to invest in tech-enabled solutions, such as KPMG Clara, our progressive global collaboration and analytics tool.

As a KPMG Auditor, you’ll have the opportunity to work with some of the brightest minds in Audit, feed your curiosity and stretch your experience and skills across diverse engagements. In return for your commitment, we offer rewarding, long-term career paths in Audit, supported by continuous learning opportunities, to help you grow in your own way. Our dedicated Audit University will provide access best practice guidance whenever you need it.

At KPMG, you’ll find that we’re creating a tech-driven business to empower and equip our people to be outstanding in delivery, no matter where they work – through inspiring collaboration spaces and new technologies. In your role, you’ll work flexibly across your location region – at engagement sites, our offices and home.

If you share our commitment to achieving excellence and working to the highest audit standards, are a natural collaborator, inquisitive and resilient, who values different perspectives and wants the opportunity to progress – then KPMG could be the place for you to make your mark.

Markets

Explore our markets to find out more about the different opportunities at KPMG.

Corporates

KPMG’s Corporates practice works with leading global organisations across a range of dedicated sectors, including Consumer, Retail, Leisure, Energy & Natural Resources, Life Sciences, Aerospace & Defence, Industrial Manufacturing, Technology, Media & Telecommunications. We offer cross-capability expertise, together with deep industry knowledge and KPMG’s extensive global network, to help companies succeed in a challenging and rapidly changing world, offering innovative approaches to deliver real results.

Financial Services

Financial Services (FS) is one of the key industry groups at KPMG and one of our largest revenue contributors. Consisting of banking & capital markets, insurance and asset management, our FS market proposition is issues-led as we seek to provide companies with insight around major issues affecting their businesses and deliver the solutions and support to solve them.

National Markets

KPMG’s National Markets business is dedicated to supporting private companies and public sector organisations across the UK. From early stage funding advice to planning an exit, KPMG Private Enterprise (KPE) supports privately owned businesses across all sectors, sizes and ownership types: owner-managed, fast-growing startups, private equity backed, and large multi-generational family business. Public Sector is committed to helping organisations develop and deliver key UK public services. By combining our deep commercial, sector and technical expertise, we help deliver real results.

Celebrating Neurodiversity

At KPMG we’re continually looking for ways to break down barriers and support all our people to thrive with us. We promote individuality and celebrate the unique set of skills and strengths that each of our colleagues brings to our business, with the aim of creating an environment that will nurture personal and professional development for all. Within Audit, we understand that neurodiverse colleagues may need adjustments throughout their recruitment journey and time at KPMG. Our recruitment and HR teams have worked with industry experts to make our recruitment and onboarding process more inclusive, and we encourage individuals who identify as neurodivergent to join us across all roles and grades.

Read about:

Explore Audit

Business area overview

Accounting Advisory Services (AAS)

The complexity of today’s rapidly changing, increasingly digital world means it’s more important than ever for organisations to have access to the best specialist technical accounting advice. In this team you’ll draw on your expertise to help diverse businesses adapt to new demands.

The detailed advice we provide is aligned to financial reporting objectives, commercial reality and relevant regulatory requirements. Our work spans everything from supporting the implementation of new accounting standards through to GAAP conversions and IPOs. Our delivery ranges from training sessions through to drafting and reviewing in-depth accounting papers.

The fact that we support a varied group of companies across all segments with challenging, complex issues that arise from transactions, business decisions and regulatory changes makes this an excellent place to develop your skills.

Audit Centre of Excellence (ACE)

Our Audit Centre of Excellence (ACE) comprises all the quality support and technical specialists for the audit practice. It has five focal areas: Department of Professional Practice (DPP) Accounting & Reporting; DPP Audit Support; US Accounting and Reporting Group (USARG); Second Line of Defence and Audit Technology.

In DPP Accounting & Reporting, we drive quality by advising our audit teams on the most complex technical accounting issues. It's work that gives us a high level of contact with Partners and Directors.

Our DPP Audit Support team supports our auditors on technical issues, approaches and methodologies as well as driving the implementation of exciting technology solutions.

USARG provides audit support for the engagement teams of SEC-registrants based outside the US, and contributes to registered and exempt offerings of securities within the US.

The Second Line of Defence team reviews in flight audits and helps coach audit teams to plan and deliver consistently high quality audits.

In Audit Technology, we're leading the debate on the future shape of corporate reporting. And we're raising the bar for audit quality by using advanced technology and data analytics to interpret ever-greater quantities of information.

Assurance

Assurance comes in all shapes and sizes. It’s focused on providing comfort to external stakeholders on a variety of different subject matters, from grant claim reporting through to non-financial information in the front half of an Annual Report. It’s different from audit in that we’re not assuring financial statements, but similar in that we typically issue an opinion, just as we do for a financial audit. In this team you’ll be able to work across a range of assurance types and different sectors.

Two exciting areas of focus for our Assurance team are:

Environment, Social and Governance (ESG): building on the rapid rise in regulatory and investor focus on ESG reporting, delivering confidence through assurance over metrics such carbon emissions and diversity is now a key part of the successful functioning of our capital markets.
Service Organisation Assurance Reporting (SOAR): now that outsourcing is the new normal, trust between customers and suppliers is essential. Assuring internal controls operated at service providers is key in building this trust.

Colleagues in our Assurance team say they love the work because of the opportunities to gain experience across clients of all sizes and all sectors, and to be at the heart of topics such as ESG which really matter to them personally.

External Audit

External Audit is at the core of our practice and is crucial in building our reputation for quality and integrity. As a member of this high-profile team, you'll play a key role in helping us manage and maintain this reputation.

You can expect to do truly worthwhile work. We play an important role in providing the confidence that business and society needs. Our work, as external auditors, supports investment decisions in the capital markets, instils trust in public sector expenditure and so much more. It is work that touches almost everyone.

You'll also be part of a fast-moving environment – especially where technology is concerned. Our strategy is all about maintaining a relentless focus on quality, innovating continuously, and creating an environment where talent thrives and quality outcomes are intrinsic to everything we do.

Internal Audit & Risk Compliance Services (IARCS)

We help organisations to do the right thing by improving their corporate governance practices, risk management and internal control systems.

In Internal Audit, we provide Boards, C-suites and trustees with independent assurance that an organisation's risk management, governance and internal control processes are operating effectively. It's about giving people at the most senior levels enhanced clarity so that they're well placed to tackle the complexities of globalisation, changing consumer demands and economic and political volatility.

In our Climate Change & Sustainability team, we work with governments and corporates across the globe to help them turn their green growth strategies into reality. This is an opportunity to join a network that's applying the kind of forward-thinking that should help organisations, nations and the planet itself to thrive long into the future. We have a dedicated Contract Compliance team too, which supports clients in a wide range of industries in areas such as royalties, licensing, distribution agreements, advertising, digital content and more.

IT Audit

The IT Audit team is an integral part of our Audit practice. We provide independent, jargon-free technical expertise to help audited entities evaluate their technology risks through specialist IT audit support. We evaluate technology controls and assess how they may present a risk of financial misstatement. We work closely with financial auditors and other specialists as one team to deliver a truly market-leading service. We also work with our multi-disciplinary Consulting practice to deliver additional services that our non-audit clients' demand.

The key services delivered by our IT Audit specialists include:

IT and business process, data, system and risk mapping
IT and automated business control identification and assessment
Review and testing of technology, data and business risks and controls
Data analytics and automation capabilities across technology platforms
Attestation over the use of technology at third parties

These services offer extensive access to the core systems and processes of some of the world’s biggest brands and will furnish you with a comprehensive understanding of how technology drives modern business processes; and of how IT and finance professionals manage their technology risks.

ESG: Environmental, Social, Governance

Careers in Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG)

We’ve brought together all of KPMG UK’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) commitments and published Our Impact Plan – aimed at creating sustainable, meaningful change both now and in the future. From Climate Risk and Decarbonisation, Reporting and Assurance to Sustainable Supply Chain and Organisational Transformation, we need Experienced Professionals to help us to reshape the way we manage our environmental footprint and drive change in our organisation and beyond.

ESG person outdoors with coffee cup highlight