Deloitte report: Audit committees and CFOs in Southeast Asia must recalibrate governance for a more volatile world

Key takeaways:

• Nearly two‑thirds of audit committee members (62%) say they want regular to continuous updates, yet only 36% of CFOs say they currently provide information at that cadence.
• 90% of audit committee members say they expect the CFO to act as a bridge between management and the board.
• 90% of audit committee members say visibility into finance systems and processes is ‘very or extremely important’, reflecting a shift from outcome‑based assurance to mechanism‑based assurance.
• Against a backdrop of recent geopolitical disruption, a pulse survey conducted between March and April 2026 shows CFOs and audit committees converging around a shared resilience agenda, albeit from different vantage points.
• Trust between CFOs and audit committees remains strong, with both sides rating it at 4.0 out of 5.

SINGAPORE, 13 May 2026 – According to the latest Deloitte Southeast Asia CFO Program report, The Audit Committee: A North Star for CFOs navigating uncharted waters, 90% of audit committee members expect chief financial officers (CFOs) to act as a bridge between management and the board, and that CFOs play an important role in calibrating the issues to surface to audit committee members.  

In an increasingly volatile environment, the report notes that the relationship between audit committees and CFOs has become a critical stabilising force – one that must evolve to remain effective. The research also shows that governance challenges today are less often caused by a lack of information, and more often by information arriving too late or being framed too narrowly for effective judgement, as 62% of audit committee members say they want regular to continuous updates, yet only 36% of CFOs say they provide information at that cadence.

Drawing on a survey of 21 audit committee members and 61 CFOs conducted between October and December 2025 across Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as in-depth interviews, the report further stated that under steady-state conditions, most audit committee members feel broadly well served, with 85% saying they receive the right information at the right time. However, that confidence weakens as volatility rises and decision windows compress.

A subsequent pulse survey conducted between March and April 2026 found that recent geopolitical disruption has further sharpened the need for earlier visibility, stronger resilience planning and clearer governance trade-offs.

“Recent geopolitical disruption has reinforced a simple truth: in volatile conditions, audit committees do not merely need more data. They benefit from earlier orientation – visibility into what is changing, what is uncertain, and which judgement calls narrow options if delayed. In uncharted waters, the audit committee sets the course, but it is the CFO who ensures the organisation can steer with confidence – with clarity and transparency to respond when conditions change,” said HO Kok Yong, CFO Program Leader, Deloitte Southeast Asia.

“The rise of AI also redefines what ‘good assurance’ looks like, and that requires joint ownership and mutual understanding between audit committees and CFOs, not silent assumptions,” Kok Yong added.

Earlier orientation matters more than more reporting

While 86% of audit committee members say they receive the right information at the right time under normal conditions, the study finds that many now expect a more continuous flow of insight. Nearly two-thirds of audit committee members (62%) say they want regular to continuous updates, a gap that remains, as only 36% of CFOs say they currently provide information at that cadence. The findings suggest that the priority is not more reporting, but earlier orientation on what is changing, what remains uncertain and which judgement calls may narrow options if left too late.

Calibration as the key challenge

The research also challenges the assumption that CFOs are overwhelmed by resource constraints. CFOs rated the challenge of translating strategic discussions into board-ready insights at 2.4 out of 5, with 1 being ‘not challenging at all’ and 5 being ‘extremely challenging’. In addition, people (2.3 out of 5), technology (2.3 out of 5) and process (2.5 out of 5) constraints were also seen as manageable.

Instead, the report finds that the central issue is calibration by CFOs, as audit committees assign disproportionate importance to certain topics. This is particularly important given that 90% of audit committee members expect CFOs to act as a bridge between management and the board.

“The most resilient organisations treat governance as a shared responsibility, with the CFO as a key conduit between management and the audit committee. In this relationship, calibration is paramount: what to surface, when to surface it, and how to communicate it to multiple stakeholders. A healthy ‘no surprises’ culture is not about submitting polished papers, but about reducing signal latency. This means creating the conditions for earlier dialogue between the audit committee and CFO, while there is still room to shape decisions,” said SEAH Gek Choo, Boardroom Program Leader, Deloitte Southeast Asia.

Among survey respondents, 90% of audit committee members rated regulatory compliance communication as very or extremely important, followed by technology, AI and cyber risk (67%), and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) matters (48%). On the other hand, CFOs often manage these areas as part of a broader portfolio of stakeholder obligations.

AI, automation and assurance

The report also highlights the rising governance significance of AI, automation and finance systems visibility. As finance functions experiment with new technologies, audit committees are increasingly focused on whether these tools strengthen assurance rather than simply improve efficiency. Yet maturity remains uneven. Audit committee members rated their understanding of AI and automation at 3.3 out of 5 for financial reporting, 3.6 out of 5 for controls, and 3.4 out of 5 for risk management (with 1 being ‘not mature’ and 5 being ‘mature’). At the same time, 90% said that visibility into finance systems and processes is very or extremely important, signalling a move from outcome-based assurance towards a deeper, mechanism-based understanding of how financial information is produced.

Meanwhile, CFOs rate the challenge of delivering that visibility as manageable – citing time constraints (2.4 out of 5), competing priorities (2.3 out of 5) and capabilities (2.0 out of 5), with 1 being ‘not at all challenging’ and 5 being ‘extremely challenging’.

Governance under disruption: a shared resilience agenda

Against a backdrop of geopolitical disruption, Deloitte’s pulse survey shows that both CFOs and audit committees are converging around a shared resilience agenda, albeit from different vantage points.

For audit committee members, the main areas requiring assurance were liquidity headroom, working capital controls, and capex and portfolio decisions, each cited by 50% of respondents. CFOs, by contrast, identified a broader spread of simultaneous exposures, citing supply and logistics continuity, hedging and market exposure, scenario planning, and counterparty and credit risk as top priorities (36% each).

In periods of disruption, both audit committees and CFOs face a common set of difficult trade-offs. Half of audit committee members identified balancing decision speed with effective controls, as well as supporting customers while managing receivables risk, as the issues they would want escalated earliest. Among CFOs, 45% cited balancing inventory buffers with cash preservation as the most challenging trade-off to manage in practice.

A shared voyage

The report notes that resilient governance is built through earlier visibility, disciplined calibration, credible assurance mechanisms and mutual enablement.

Trust between CFOs and audit committees remains strong, with both sides rating it at 4.0 out of 5, with 5 being ‘very high trust’. However, CFOs rated the quality of interactions slightly lower (3.7 out of 5) than audit committee members (4.0 out of 5), reflecting the growing demands placed on CFOs as translators, calibrators and stewards of assurance under pressure. In this environment, the report argues, the most effective governance relationships will be those that allow difficult issues to surface early, before choices become constrained and resilience is put at risk.

“In uncharted waters, the audit committee sets the course. But it is the CFO who ensures the organisation can steer with confidence – with the clarity and transparency needed to respond when conditions change,” concluded Kok Yong.

To access the full report, please visit https://www.deloitte.com/southeast-asia/the-audit-committee-2026