The Future of Auditing: How AI Helps Finance Leaders Stop Fraud and Drive Growth

When it comes to managing company spend, most finance leaders focus on the big-ticket items. But what about the smaller, everyday claims hiding in employee reimbursements? Left unchecked, these can quietly drain budgets, expose the business to fraud, and increase compliance risks.

The truth is, many organisations still rely on manual or partial audits, an approach that leaves too many gaps. In fact, expense reimbursement fraud makes up 13% of all asset misappropriation, with a median loss of $50,000 per incident. For finance teams already under pressure to do more with less, this level of risk is unsustainable.

So how can businesses close the gaps, reduce audit fatigue, and still keep their teams focused on strategic growth initiatives? The answer lies in smarter, AI-powered audit systems.

Why traditional audits aren’t enough

Limited time and resources mean most finance teams only audit a sample of expense reports. The problem? This leaves plenty of room for error or fraud to slip through. To put it into perspective:

• Auditing 10,800 expense reports manually in a year can consume 1,800 hours, the equivalent of one full-time employee.

• Manual reviews not only drain resources but also slow down finance teams, making it harder for them to contribute to bigger organisational goals.

That’s where AI-driven audits step in.

How AI transforms audit efficiency

AI enables finance teams to review 100% of expense reports without adding headcount or slowing operations. It flags high-risk claims, detects unusual vendor activity, and spots suspicious patterns such as duplicate submissions or expenses just under approval thresholds.

The results speak for themselves:

• 10x more errors and fraud detected compared to manual reviews

• Up to 90% faster audit times

• 60% reduction in costly mistakes

By automatically catching issues before reimbursement, companies can protect revenue, reduce risk, and free up teams to focus on high-value work.

The power of clear policies + intelligent auditing

Technology works best when paired with strong policies. Many businesses have added new expense categories to reflect hybrid work (think home internet or office equipment) but haven’t updated their rules to reflect those changes. This creates confusion, mistakes, and unintentional non-compliance.

Regularly updated, accessible policies combined with employee training and reminders ensure submissions are correct the first time, saving auditors hours of rework.

Smarter auditing: from cost control to growth driver

By automating routine checks and focusing staff on exceptions, businesses gain a scalable audit process that grows with them. Finance leaders get better visibility into spend, can act on risks before they escalate, and turn audit insights into smarter financial decisions.

As SAP Concur’s Fabian Calle puts it:

“Companies that adopt intelligent auditing free finance teams to move from manual checks to higher-value work. They gain the visibility to control spend without slowing operations, catching issues early and making faster decisions. That’s how audit efficiency becomes a lever for growth—not just risk management.” - Fabian Calle, managing director, small and medium business, SAP Concur Australia and New Zealand

The bottom line

Whether you’re leading finance for a small business, a mid-sized company, or a global enterprise, the message is clear: manual auditing is no longer enough. AI and automation give you the control, efficiency, and insights needed to safeguard against fraud and unlock opportunities for growth.

Discover how smarter audit systems can strengthen compliance and fuel your business growth. Read the full article here.