“We’re all relying on external feeds, so we’re relying on stuff coming from banks and brokers and all sorts of places, and unfortunately it’s just not that reliable,” he said.

Mr Lesh said while it possible to certify that the data from your own organisation is correct, it isn’t possible to certify that the data from other companies is correct.

“None of the banks have certification for their data and most of their systems have holes in them,” said Mr Lesh.

“We find error after error in the data feeds coming from the banks and other [firms].”

Mr Lesh said he therefore remains sceptical of the audit process ever being fully automated.

“I think we’ll see auditing that’s very close to being automated, but I don’t think we’re ever going to see fully automated auditing,” he said.

“I would like to see the banks and financial institutions have better and more reliable systems, that would make it easier for everyone,” he said.

However Mr Lesh said from his understanding data certification is not something any of the banks or larger organisations are working towards at the moment.

“I think that’s a huge problem going forward – [well] certainly at the moment,” he said.