To remain relevant, the audit model must evolve as business needs and risks evolve. At KPMG, we recognize the importance of bringing together all stakeholders to discuss the challenges facing today’s corporations and to identify opportunities to enhance the financial statement audit and corporate reporting process so that they remain relevant.

In 2015, we completed the first phase of our Value of Audit program – engaging with audit committees, regulators, standard setters and management to understand their views on audit quality, the role of audit, and audit innovation. Read a summary of the results.

Now, we have embarked on the next phase of engagement in the form of a direct dialogue with investors. The International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) is an investor-led network with a mission to influence, connect and inform stakeholders around corporate governance issues. KPMG is holding discussions with their members on the role audit plays in investment decisions, and how the corporate reporting process can be improved to better support the flow of capital that underpins financial markets.

We started by hosting two sessions at the ICGN’s regional Frankfurt Conference: a debate focused on how to enhance the dialogue between investors and auditors to improve audit quality, followed by a workshop on the role investors can play in ensuring corporate reporting meets their needs. We continued the dialogue at the ICGN’s San Francisco Annual Conference in June.

Given the multitude of pressures facing investors in capital markets globally, it is imperative that audits and corporate reporting continue to provide them, along with other stakeholders, with the assurance they need to make sound financial decisions. We look forward to having the investor voice at the table as we envision the future of audit.