Cybersecurity risks and future regulatory mandates keep more than 25 percent of corporate financial executives up at night, an increase from 22 percent in 2017, according to a survey of 575 attendees at the KPMG 28th Annual Accounting & Financial Reporting Symposium by KPMG LLP, a U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm.
Forty-four percent said they are more concerned about cybersecurity now than they were a year earlier when 97 percent said they were very or somewhat concerned about it.
Future regulatory mandates re-emerged as a leading concern, behind cybersecurity. Some 22 percent of those surveyed said they were concerned about the potential for new regulatory mandates, an increase from 19 percent in 2017.
Other findings from the survey:
- 46 percent of the executives said they are carefully monitoring the marketplace to determine if blockchain makes sense for their company.
- Only 2 percent are using blockchain currently, and 41 percent said they don’t think blockchain technology will impact their business.
- As much as 70 percent of the respondents are investing in new technology to meet financial reporting requirements.
- More than a third (39 percent) said including Critical Audit Matters (CAMs) in the Auditor’s report will help offer new insights into their company, up slightly from 33 percent in 2017, and,
- As many as 85 percents have begun the process to adopt the new lease accounting standard; 4 percent of the respondents said their company has completed the implementation. That compares to 34 percent and 1 percent, respectively, last year.
