EY Audit Quality | EY - Global

Planning business strategies with colleagues in board room

Planning business strategies with colleagues in board room

How can a high-quality audit deliver confidence from complexity?

EY is committed to serving the public interest through high-quality audits that are executed with independence, integrity and objectivity, and which involve professional skepticism, compliance with professional standards and due professional care.

Leaders set the tone at the top by establishing audit quality as a global priority and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. High-quality audits drive long-term value and stakeholder confidence, and EY auditors strengthen this trust by understanding a company’s financial risk profile, analyzing data objectively and independently, and applying a globally consistent audit approach.

Talent

Audit professionals across the globe play a vital role in driving quality outcomes through a culture of continuous improvement. They prioritize learning and development while fostering a culture of innovation by upskilling to be proficient in technology-driven and AI-powered audit capabilities.

Technology

An investment of over US$1b is being made in next-generation Assurance technology. This investment builds on an existing leading-edge audit technology suite, which helps drive audit quality by standardizing processes and leveraging data to provide risk guidance and relevant recommendations to EY teams.

Methodology

The EY Global Audit Methodology helps auditors interpret and apply relevant auditing standards. It is regularly optimized and standardized to help enable greater consistency in audit execution and to embrace the use of the latest technology to improve the quality of EY audits.

A message from EY leadership
Our commitment to audit quality is driven by a culture of quality and helps reinforce confidence and trust in the capital markets.

Delivering high-quality audits

Marie-Laure Delarue
EY Global Vice Chair — Assurance

Promoting and reinforcing a culture of quality

Amy King
EY Global Assurance Vice Chair — Professional Practice

Ongoing investments to support audit quality

Jeremy Thurbin
EY Global Assurance Quality Leader

Our commitment to audit quality

Confidence in the capital markets drives economic growth. A committed focus on audit quality is foundational to the EY strategy and supports the positive impact of the audit profession on our working world.

Download the quality summary (pdf)

Audit quality by the numbers

EY seeks to uphold a culture of integrity and accountability, where everyone is responsible for aiming to achieve the highest standards. Key metrics that support a culture of continuous improvement include:

1,400+
audit engagements were subject to internal inspection in 2025.

1,500+
audit engagements go through global coaching on an annual basis.

500+
audit engagements were inspected by global regulators in 2025.

All data is as of 30 June 2025 unless otherwise stated.

Morning image with businesswoman and businessmen arriving at modern business district.

Serving the public interest is the cornerstone of the audit transformation journey, which is improving the way EY teams perform audit work while driving quality.

Marie-Laure Delarue

EY Global Vice Chair — Assurance

Transforming to improve audit quality

By combining top talent with innovative technology, a continuous improvement mindset, and a modern methodology, EY is reimagining how independent audits bring assurance to the capital markets. With quality as the foundation, the audit experience is being elevated for both EY people and clients.

As part of transforming the audit, a new, modern approach is being implemented. This EY Global Audit Methodology optimizes the way EY teams perform high quality audit work. It provides clear guidance and direct linkage with the underlying auditing standards, making it easier to demonstrate how the audit procedures correspond to the requirements.

Greater consistency is also achieved through standardizing both risk assessment and determination of relevant audit procedures, within a standardized suite of documentation, facilitating the review process and enabling auditors to focus more on risk.
An investment of more than US$1b in a next generation Assurance technology platform is part of a sustained commitment to delivering high-quality audits and supporting rapidly changing expectations of stakeholders. The four-year investment program facilitates the integration and transformation of leading-edge capabilities from across EY Assurance into one technology platform and leverages the foundations of the existing best-in-class audit technology suite.

The latest milestone in this groundbreaking investment is an industry-leading series of capabilities, which bring artificial intelligence (AI) at scale to support audit engagements across the globe.

The integration and transformation of technology into an AI-powered platform allows auditors to analyze entire data sets quickly and accurately, identifying anomalies and high-risk transactions more effectively, enables them to tailor their risk assessments more precisely, focusing on areas with higher potential for material misstatement, and provides them with deeper insights into financial records, helping them better understand the entity's environment and operations. This enhances efficiency, leads to improved risk assessment in our audits, and results in more informed audit judgments and recommendations.
The global EY organization is fully committed to helping auditors thrive professionally and personally through audit transformation, by reimagining how audits are performed, experienced and valued — resulting in professionals who are empowered, confident and fulfilled.

Supported by AI-powered innovation and a culture of continuous learning, audit teams will work smarter and more intentionally with greater impact — on their careers and their teams, and for EY clients and stakeholders.

They will benefit from smarter tools and simpler workflows; a consistent modern execution; and more time for what matters most, including strategic thinking, future-focused skills development and generating impactful insights that add value.

Audit transformation is critical to enhancing this experience and supporting auditors in maintaining independence and objectivity, acting with integrity, exercising professional skepticism, and being accountable for quality.

Explore the elements of audit quality

Culture

At EY, we promote a culture that supports audit quality, where independence, objectivity and acting with integrity are reinforced.

Infrastructure to drive audit quality

EY has infrastructure in place to support audit teams and practice leaders in the execution of high-quality audits.

System of Quality Management

EY continues to invest in its System of Quality Management and to promote objectivity, independence and professional skepticism.

Quality monitoring and remediation

Insights gathered from various quality monitoring methods inform leaders of key areas where continued improvements are required.

Independence practices

Upholding independence is fundamental to the EY commitment to audit quality and stakeholder trust. It is integrated into every facet of the audit.

Risk management

Risk management includes an organization-wide framework, as well as engagement-level considerations.

The team

Marie-Laure Delarue

EY Global Vice Chair — Assurance

Agent of change. Passionate about talent. Driver of innovation. Bilingual. Enjoys wine tasting.

Paris La Défense, France

Amy King

EY Global Assurance Vice Chair — Professional Practice

Globally connected. Focused on what’s next in risk and innovation. Passionate about helping global teams drive audit quality to serve the public interest. Enjoys time with family and new experiences.

New York, NY, United States

Jeremy Thurbin

EY Global Assurance Quality Leader

Over three decades of international experience. Dual French and British nationality.

Jay Paulson

EY Global Assurance Deputy Vice Chair — Professional Practice

Experienced leader working with Assurance professionals all over the world. Passionate about the commitment to our people, the profession and quality. Enjoys time with family, golf and scuba diving.

Cristina Lopez Alvarez

EY Global System of Quality Management Operational Leader

Thrives working in dynamic, international and multicultural environments. Deeply passionate about family and travel. Resides in Madrid with husband and three children.

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