He said continuous auditing could also be a product of technological advancements, which is an approach to auditing that partner at Deloitte, Jo Heighway, has been championing for years.

Mr Smith also believes that despite the buoyancy of auditing start-ups, consolidation will likely hit the auditing industry in a similar way that it has in the administration space.

“There seems to be a blossoming of companies getting out there and selling audit software at the moment. For some reason, people are thinking that this is an opportunity and to a certain extent there aren’t any real big gorillas in that space yet,” Mr Smith told SMSF Adviser. 

“However, you would think that over the longer term, there would have to be consolidation.”