By Ross Baldwin, CPA, CGMA, CFE, CIA
During the AICPA’s Government Performance and Accountability Committee’s April 2026 meeting, a representative from the Ohio Auditor of State (AOS) presented how AOS has implemented tech in auditing. The following contains highlights from the presentation.
A Data and IT Audit (DITA) group within the AOS was formed to address field auditors’ concerns about the time and expense of audits. Automating school audit data delivery and processes presented the easiest starting point to automation, as many schools use the same financial reporting software and numerous manual steps could be automated.
DITA met with financial auditors and identified key information they needed, which included two Excel spreadsheets with multiple worksheets: one for general ledger data and one for payroll data.
Data analysis has grown over 20 years.
Prior to 2020, each school data project was completed separately, with projects being distributed among local AOS staff (15 individuals), who spent 10–12 hours per project. In 2021, scripts were written to process data from all schools using the same tool, decreasing time spent to two hours per project.
In 2022, AOS staff began using data to perform new procedures, including automated audit tests, and using a SQL database to store the data. In 2023, data was moved into a database, and the team started automating testing of working papers. In 2024, DITA rewrote scripts to pull from the database, and in 2025, it moved to a data platform.
DITA has staff with some experience scripting, using standard audit tools. The staff quickly moved on to Python to perform many of the coding and automation tasks. GitHub is a helpful tool to learn Python and improve Python coding skills and documentation.
AOS is in the early stages of implementing AI into everyday workflows. It uses AI to increase productivity in some capacities and help spark ideas for staff members who have coding skills. It expects to increase its use of AI, including Microsoft’s Copilot, which could bring AI to audit fieldwork.
In the end, the DITA group achieved its objective of reducing costs and timelines for field auditors — DITA reduced the human capital needed and expanded use, including automating audit tests.
Best practices are born from lessons learned.
AOS learned valuable insights through implementation of this detailed, multiyear audit transformation process. Lessons learned can be translated into tips for your success.
Staff have skills, ideas, and answers to create more efficient processes.
After reviewing current practices and methods, determine the first automation project. As you map the ideal process and manual steps that could be eliminated, explore opportunities for innovation and investments in research and development.
Any changes to process will need leadership approval and buy-in.
Investments in research and development can lead to long-term efficiencies. Implementing changes, such as digital transformation, takes time and could involve financial expense; senior management will need status updates along the way.
Small group sessions are more effective than webinars.
Engaging staff to share their ideas and provide frontline input increases the probability of success with any change. Users of systems and processes can provide feedback for improvements and are the best salespeople for widespread adoption.
AOS continues to automate processes to increase efficiencies for the financial audit team. Moving forward, it plans to train data models to flag at-risk transactions and expand automation processes to include more vendors and entity types. It also wants to give financial auditors freedom to choose the type of data and reports they want on a self-serve basis and expand the use of AI tools to help other staff join in the innovation process.
About the expert
Ross Baldwin, CPA, CGMA, CFE, CIA, is senior auditor for Arkansas Legislative Audit (ALA), with 17 years of experience auditing numerous entities, including institutions of higher education, school districts, counties, and municipalities. His experience was also utilized during the ALA’s initial implementation of two auditing software systems. In 2017, Ross graduated from the AICPA Leadership Academy, and he is currently involved with the Arkansas Society of CPAs. Ross earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Arkansas and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree, with a major in accounting, from Arkansas Tech University. Ross is a CPA, Certified Fraud Examiner, and Certified Internal Auditor, and he has achieved the Chartered Global Management Accountant® qualification.
About the AICPA’s Government Performance and Accountability Committee
Comprising 12 volunteer committee members, and in collaboration with staff at the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants®, the Government Performance and Accountability Committee advises government officials, regulators, and stakeholders, advocating issues that matter to the accounting and finance profession. If you’d like to learn more about GPAC, please email Lori Sexton.