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- KPMG vs. Its Auditor: “AI Made This Cheaper”
KPMG vs. Its Auditor: “AI Made This Cheaper”
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I share the 4-5 most important accounting that actually matter. I scroll so you don’t have to.
So grab your coffee, take a quick break, and lets catch up.
In this issue:
KPMG used AI as a weapon to cut audit fees
AI in tax is getting rules before it gets reckless
Pepsi admits snack prices finally went too far
- Ledger Lowdown Team
WTF of the Day🤯
KPMG Just Did What Your Clients Are About to Do to You
KPMG told its own auditor, Grant Thornton UK, to cut audit fees because AI makes the work cheaper. They basically said, you’re using AI, our books aren’t that complex, you know us already. Lower the bill or we’ll find someone else.
It worked. Their audit fee dropped about 14 percent. Quietly. No press release.
Every CFO just learned a new line. “If AI makes audits faster, why am I paying the same?” This isn’t about quality. It’s about pricing power. And it’s coming for every firm that sells hours.
Get ahead of this now. You need a clear answer for why fees stay flat or go up in an AI world.
What’s poppin in accounting🍿
The AI Alliance Isn’t About Innovation. It’s About Permission.
Thomson Reuters just teamed up with OpenAI, Anthropic, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud. Not to build cooler AI. To make AI usable in tax without getting people fired or fined.
Here’s the real play. Thomson Reuters becomes the adult in the room. They help define what “trustworthy AI” means in tax. Sources you can prove. Answers you can explain. Guardrails that won’t blow up under audit. If trust becomes the moat, they own it.
The AI companies get something even better. Access to real tax workflows. Real stakes. Real consequences. That’s how you go from demo AI to enterprise AI that firms are actually allowed to use.
Why this matters to you. This is how AI goes from “interesting” to “approved.” Firms won’t ask if they can use AI anymore. They’ll ask which tools won’t get them sued. And that’s when adoption actually explodes.
Weekly Trend Chart 📊
PepsiCo is cutting snack prices across the US
Chips. Doritos. Cheetos. The stuff that makes basically all their North America profit. About 85 percent of it. When your money printer slows down, you don’t argue with customers. You cut prices.
This isn’t kindness. People are broke and mad. They’re emailing Pepsi to complain about chip prices like it’s customer support for inflation.
Why this matters. Soda barely makes money anymore. Snacks do. If even Pepsi is admitting prices went too far, price sensitivity is officially back. What to do. If you sell food, test lower prices fast. If you advise businesses, tell them margins matter but volume matters more right now. Ego pricing is over.
Meme of the Day😂
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