RSM launches AI-guided internal audit platform “Beacon” with Andera
Top 10 firm
Processing Content
RSM Beacon automates the preparation of control test work papers. An auditor provides the control description, testing attributes, and supporting evidence; the platform reads the evidence, tests each attribute, and produces a fully annotated, review-ready work paper that mirrors how the team would have prepared it manually. It handles the full range of evidence auditors actually work with, including complex Excel workbooks with embedded files, screenshots, and annotations, and it covers high-volume, multi-sample controls, not just simple ones. We are also evaluating the use of the platform on control frameworks beyond SOX, including SOC, NIST, PCI, and operational audits.
It is based on an agent-based AI workflow. The system ingests the control, its attributes, and the evidence files, then parses those files the way an auditor would read them, including the nuances of how auditors and accountants use Excel (embedded images, tick marks, initials, colored tabs, etc.) From there it allocates evidence to the correct samples, tests each attribute against the evidence, and documents its reasoning at every step. Every conclusion is traceable with reviewers seeing the full reasoning log alongside the underlying evidence. Critically, the AI does not make judgment calls. Anything ambiguous is flagged as an open item for a human auditor to review.
When using the platform, an auditor would loads a control (manually, from a test sheet or RCM upload, or via integration), optionally upload prior-year work papers and reference documents like policies and narratives to give the AI context, and then drags and drops the evidence files. The AI sorts evidence to the right samples and the auditor hits start testing. Tests run in the background, so auditors can queue multiple controls and return to completed work papers, then move into review, where they examine the AI’s conclusions, resolve open items, and apply professional judgment.
Andera’s underlying technology also powers Andera’s own commercial product, which enterprise audit teams license directly and is in use at large public companies today. A spokesperson, however, clarified that the two are fully segregated environments: client data processed through Beacon stays within Beacon and is never used to train or improve the commercial product.
The platform is currently live and in use by RSM professionals.
