Zac Explains Audits: Volume 025
I just gamified audit education and it might just revolutionize the profession.
I’ve built a lot of things over the years, but this might be the coolest.
It’s called AuditPAL, a guided internal audit simulation built entirely on ChatGPT.
Yes. You read that right.
AuditPAL isn’t just a checklist. It’s not a compliance tool. It’s a living simulation- a “choose your own adventure” game designed to walk auditors (or future auditors) through a real-life internal audit scenario, decision by decision.
And the first version is live.
So what is AuditPAL, really?
AuditPAL is an interactive tool that mimics the lifecycle of an internal audit engagement from planning to reporting, except instead of just talking about risks and controls, you live through them.
You’re dropped into a scenario, say, a commercial apiary (yep, a honey operation), and tasked with investigating why colony loss is spiking and honey yields are crashing. You’re given four options. You choose one. AuditPAL reacts.
Then it rates your answer.
Gives you feedback.
And sends you further down the path.
It’s structured like a game, but teaches like a case study.
It’s the audit world’s version of a flight simulator.
Why I built it (and why it matters)
Let’s be honest, we’ve got a pipeline problem in accounting and audit.
The profession struggles to attract and retain new talent. It's not because the work isn't meaningful (it is), but because the way we explain it is… well… a little soul-sucking.
We give new interns spreadsheets and walkthrough memos before we ever give them the why. We make them memorize the audit steps before they even understand what the business does.
No wonder people leave.
AuditPAL is my small rebellion against that. A way to teach not by telling, but by letting people try, mess up, and learn.
But more than that, this tool proves something bigger:
This is where AI gets interesting
We spend so much time worried that AI will replace us that we forget to explore how it can enable us.
AuditPAL isn’t a futuristic ChatGPT prompt, it’s a working tool right now that could help:
New hires understand the logic behind audit decisions
Students explore how internal audit works in the real world
Teachers and trainers run scenario-based workshops
Even experienced auditors test their instincts in a low-stakes environment
And that’s just one industry. Swap out the content, and this format could teach:
Clinical decision-making in healthcare
Incident response in cybersecurity
Ethics cases in business schools
Emergency management for public sector teams
The possibilities are wild.
Is it perfect?
No.
It’s a version 1.
Some prompts could be tighter. Some scenarios will evolve. Feedback loops could be deeper. But the point isn’t perfection, it’s engagement.
If we want the next generation of professionals to care about audit, governance, and risk, we need to meet them halfway. And that means building tools that actually feel like they’re made for humans.
AuditPAL does that. It opens the door to experimentation, not just explanation. And honestly, that might be what the profession needs most.
Try it out
You can run the first audit simulation of AuditPAL here:
👉 https://chatgpt.com/g/g-68589a9469d48191a4e854a1ca22b3cf-auditpal
The theme I used for testing? Commercial beekeeping. 🐝
(Trust me, it’s more exciting than it sounds.)
And if you do run it, I’d love your thoughts. What worked? What didn’t? What topics should I simulate next?
This is just the beginning.
Let’s make audit education modern.
-Zac