Our material topics

Every year we carry out an assessment of our operating environment. We use this assessment to identify our ‘material topics’ for the next 12 months – in other words, those areas where we believe we can create the most value for stakeholders and society. These topics are then mapped to our five focus areas and provide the basis for both our reporting and engagement with stakeholders.

Our latest assessment identified the following material topics:

1. Ongoing focus on audit quality

2. Well-being of our workforce, both mental and physical

3. Growing use of digital technologies throughout the economy

4. Increased focus on ESG issues among both clients and regulators

5. Impact of war in Ukraine on the economic and business environment

6. Skills shortages in the audit sector and wider Dutch economy

Please note, we have included the principal strategic focus areas only – we realize that many of these material topics cut across our five focus areas.

Note on methodology

Our assessment is based on a survey of stakeholders and senior KPMG N.V. management and input used in our regular interactions as described in ‘engaging with our stakeholders’. Survey respondents are asked to rank a series of economic, financial, environmental, social and governance issues according to their impact on both KPMG N.V. and its stakeholders. The material topics listed above were those that ranked the highest (among both stakeholders and management[1]). Survey respondents are drawn from our main stakeholder groups and members of KPMG’s Board of Management. For further details, see: Materiality assessment (new window) and Management of material issues (new window), which provides details of how we manage potential risks and opportunities arising from our material topics.