Chicago-based IPA 100 firm Grant Thornton (FY24 net revenue of $2.37 billion) has launched gtap, a proprietary cloud-based audit infrastructure designed to transform audit delivery across the firm’s U.S. Audit & Assurance practice.
The Grant Thornton Analytics & Automation Platform embeds analytics, automation and AI throughout the audit lifecycle, creating a standardized, cloud-based infrastructure for ingesting, transforming and analyzing audit data. According to the firm, the platform works across ERP systems and supports full-population analysis, automated workpapers and AI-driven workflows, while laying the groundwork for future agentic AI capabilities that can identify risks, anomalies and insights in real time under auditor oversight.
“This represents one of our most significant investments in the future of audit,” said Ron Messenger, CEO of Grant Thornton LLP. “We are transforming how we audit and how we serve our clients, moving toward a data-led model that improves both the quality and efficiency of our work. By automating the transactional parts of the audit, our teams can focus their time where it matters most: helping clients by exercising professional skepticism and judgment, assessing risk and delivering real-time insights that help drive trust in the capital markets.”
Grant Thornton said it will initially deploy gtap for private company audits before expanding the platform into public company audits next year as part of a phased rollout across the firm’s U.S. Audit & Assurance practice.
“This is not about layering technology onto yesterday’s audit,” Messenger added. “We’re building something entirely different, while reinforcing that our professionals remain in control of the decision-making process and the judgments that matter most.”
Mike Kempe, chief information officer of Grant Thornton Advisors LLC, said the platform is designed to evolve alongside advancements in AI technology. “As AI advances, gtap will advance with it,” he said. “The future depends on delivering audits that have more autonomy, generate better insights and are more aligned with how modern businesses operate.”
Grant Thornton said the platform originated with Grant Thornton Ireland and was later enhanced in collaboration with the firm’s U.S. technology team as part of the Grant Thornton Advisors multinational platform.
