KPMG Partner Fined $7,000 for Using AI to Cheat on Firm's AI Training Exam
A senior partner at KPMG Australia has been fined $7,000 after being caught using artificial intelligence to answer questions during an internal AI training examination, highlighting growing concerns about how accounting professionals are deploying the technology they're being paid to understand.
The firm required the unnamed partner to retake the test following the incident, which was reported by the Australian Financial Review over the weekend. For finance chiefs relying on Big Four auditors to properly evaluate AI-driven controls and financial reporting systems, the irony is hard to miss: the people certifying your AI governance couldn't pass their own AI literacy test without AI's help.
The incident comes at a particularly awkward moment for KPMG. The firm recently negotiated discounted audit fees from its own external accountant, arguing that artificial intelligence will make auditing cheaper and more efficient. KPMG provides audit services to numerous Fortune 500 companies, and the fee reduction was premised on AI-driven productivity gains. As Bloomberg columnist Matt Levine observed, while it's reasonable for most companies to expect AI to reduce costs, "it is a crazy thing for an auditing firm to say to its auditor."
The partner's cheating wasn't an isolated incident. KPMG Australia disclosed that it has caught more than two dozen employees using AI to cheat on internal tests since July 2025, suggesting a broader pattern of misuse within the firm. The revelation raises questions about whether staff are actually learning to use AI appropriately, or simply learning to game the training requirements.
Australia's accounting sector has faced a series of AI-related embarrassments in recent months. Last fall, Deloitte—another Big Four firm—partially refunded the Australian government after delivering a report riddled with AI-generated errors. The pattern suggests that accounting firms may be racing to market AI-enhanced services faster than they can train their professionals to use the technology reliably.
For CFOs, the implications are straightforward: if your auditors are cheating on their own AI competency tests, how confident should you be in their ability to audit your AI-driven financial controls? The question becomes more pressing as companies increasingly rely on AI for revenue recognition, expense classification, and other judgment-heavy accounting processes that external auditors are supposed to verify.
The $7,000 fine—roughly equivalent to what a partner might bill in a single day—may not be enough to deter future violations. But it does send a signal that firms are at least attempting to enforce AI governance internally, even as they struggle to implement it effectively.
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