Good morning, CFOs. Mark Maurer on the use of AI agents in auditing; Amazon Chief Executive Andy Jassy's annual shareholder letter highlights expanding rural delivery (and robots); American Airlines joins peers in boosting bag fees.

The Big Four accounting firms are in the midst of massive changes, spurred by AI agents that are doing the tedious, repetitive work for young professionals.

The WSJ Leadership Institute’s Mark Maurer has been digging into these changes about how traditional auditing work is done. He writes in today’s newsletter:

Some of that routine testing work includes payroll, expense vouching and acquisitions of new buildings and equipment, among other tasks. Human auditors, for years, pulled a finite sample of these items, extracted the data into an Excel spreadsheet, applied auditing guidelines, and marked whether the items passed or failed.

KPMG as an example said it plans to remove humans from routine testing so staff can focus on more complicated work and more critical thinking.

While human auditors won’t perform routine testing, they will still review it, work on data collection and do risk assessment. Of these four areas of the audit, only routine testing was listed as having no human audit team associated with it within two to three years, according to a presentation in a KPMG briefing I received.

Key stat: Some Big Four firm leaders estimate that agents will contribute between 20% and 30% of a typical financial audit by 2029, essentially the proportion of the human effort that will be removed.

AI tools now run alongside traditional human audits to compare results and ensure quality control. Here’s how some of the firms are using—or plan to use—the new technology:

• At KPMG, AI agents are prompted by people to conduct a discrete set of tasks with humans evaluating tests and moving them to other agents to complete the work.
• At Ernst & Young, auditor agents will soon be talking with the agents of its clients about audit testing procedures, among other things.
• PricewaterhouseCoopers is attempting to apply AI agents to more advanced testing, such as assessing whether revenue for U.S. pharmaceutical rebates was recorded properly, said Shawn Panson, the firm’s U.S. assurance transformation leader.
• Deloitte & Touche opts for a more conservative, human-centric public stance to reassure its clients on human accountability and audit quality. (Deloitte, which includes Deloitte & Touche in its global network, sponsors CFO Journal.)

For the full story, read on here.

• ICYMI: The Dirty Job That Accountants Desperately Wish AI Would Take Over

—Mark Maurer

📈 Economic Indicators

The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the consumer price index for March.

The University of Michigan releases its Consumer Sentiment index for April.

Amazon Chief Executive Andy Jassy said the company would focus on expanding rural delivery, investing heavily in robotics and generative artificial intelligence to better serve its customers.

For the third consecutive year, Jassy used his annual shareholder letter to highlight Amazon’s vision for AI as a key driver of its next phase of growth. He also emphasized faster delivery on orders and providing high-speed internet access to rural communities.

Read on here for some of the main takeaways from Jassy’s letter.

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The Wall Street Journal's CFO Journal offers corporate leaders and professionals CFO analysis, advice and commentary to make informed decisions. We cover topics including corporate tax, accounting, regulation, capital markets, management and strategy.

Follow us on X @WSJCFO. The WSJ CFO Journal Team comprises reporters Kristin Broughton, Mark Maurer and Jennifer Williams, and Bureau Chief Walden Siew.

You can reach us by replying to any newsletter, or email Walden at walden.siew@wsj.com.