A practical route from discovering your AI use to demonstrating good governance
AI governance can sound complicated. AIGAS™ is designed to make it practical. Rather than asking firms to begin with a large compliance project, AIGAS starts with a simple question: what AI is your firm actually using? From there, firms can assess their current position, put appropriate controls in place and progress towards the level of assurance that is right for them.
From first register to certified governance.
Follow the pathway down — each step builds on the last, and each one is proportionate to the way your firm actually uses AI.
Build your AI Tool Register
The first step in effective AI governance is visibility. AI is increasingly built into software firms already use, while staff may also be using standalone AI tools independently — which means the leadership team may not have a complete picture of where AI is being used across the organisation.
The AIGAS AI Tool Register gives your firm a central record of the AI-enabled systems being used. This may include:
- Generative AI tools
- Accounting and tax software with AI functionality
- Transcription and meeting tools
- Document analysis systems
- Productivity platforms
- Marketing and CRM tools
- Research assistants
- Automation tools
- Other software containing AI-enabled features
You cannot govern what you cannot see. Your firm begins recording the AI tools being used and the relevant information about them, and as your use of AI changes, the Register is updated — a living record rather than a one-off exercise.
Complete the AIGAS Self-Assessment
Once you understand what AI your firm is using, the next step is to look at the governance around it. The AIGAS Self-Assessment helps you understand what you already have in place and where additional work may be required. It looks at areas such as:
- Responsibility and accountability
- Policies and acceptable use
- Visibility of AI systems
- Staff awareness and training
- Risk management
- Human oversight
- Supplier considerations
- Record keeping
- Ongoing review
Choose the right level for your firm
Not every organisation needs the same level of governance. AIGAS is deliberately structured so firms can adopt controls that are proportionate to their use of AI, their size and their level of risk. There are two principal AIGAS certification levels.
Bronze
Bronze establishes the foundations — visibility of AI use, clear responsibilities, appropriate policies, staff awareness and core governance controls. For many smaller firms, or firms at an earlier stage of AI adoption, Bronze may provide an appropriate starting point.
Explore Bronze →Silver
Silver goes further — a more developed and embedded approach, requiring greater evidence that governance arrangements are operating in practice and being actively maintained. Evidence is independently reviewed before Silver certification is awarded.
Explore Silver →Put the required controls in place
If your assessment identifies areas that need improvement, AIGAS provides a structured way of addressing them. That may include actions such as:
- Creating or updating an AI policy
- Assigning responsibility for AI governance
- Completing the AI Tool Register
- Introducing approval processes
- Reviewing how sensitive or confidential information is used
- Documenting human oversight
- Training staff
- Reviewing AI-enabled suppliers
- Recording decisions
- Establishing an ongoing review process
It is to make sure appropriate governance becomes part of the way the firm actually operates.
Provide evidence
Good governance should be demonstrable. Depending on the level of certification, your firm may need to provide evidence showing that relevant requirements have been satisfied. Evidence could include:
Assessment and certification
The assessment process depends on the level your firm is pursuing.
Bronze
Your firm works through the Bronze requirements, provides the required information and evidence, and completes the assessment process through the AIGAS platform. Once the requirements are satisfied, the firm can achieve AIGAS Bronze certification.
Silver
Your firm works through the Silver requirements and submits supporting evidence, which is reviewed independently by an appropriately authorised assessor. Where further information or improvement is required, this can be addressed before certification is completed.
Work with an AIGAS Certified Service Provider.
Some firms will be comfortable progressing independently. Others may want support. Using a Service Provider is not about outsourcing responsibility for AI governance — the firm remains responsible for how AI is used. The Service Provider helps you put the appropriate structure around it.
Find a Certified Service Provider →Service Providers can assist with
- Initial gap assessment
- Implementation planning
- Development of policies and processes
- AI Tool Register completion
- Evidence preparation
- Staff training
- Bronze implementation
- Silver implementation
- Ongoing governance support
Started with Bronze and later want Silver?
That is exactly what the pathway is designed to support. Bronze should not be treated as work that is discarded when you move to Silver — where relevant, existing governance controls and evidence form part of your progression towards the higher level. As your organisation develops, you build on what is already in place rather than starting again.
Each stage builds on the last — your records, controls and evidence carry forward as your firm moves along the pathway.
What if we want to go directly to Silver? You can.
Bronze is not necessarily a mandatory prerequisite to Silver. Some firms may already have mature governance arrangements, or may decide that Silver is the appropriate level from the outset. In those circumstances, the firm can begin directly with the Silver pathway.
The important point is to select the level that reflects your firm’s objectives, complexity and use of AI.
AI governance needs to remain current.
AI changes quickly. New tools are introduced. Existing software gains AI features. Employees find new ways of using technology. Suppliers change their terms and functionality. The governance arrangements that were appropriate today may therefore need to evolve — AIGAS is designed around ongoing management.
Certification provides evidence of governance at a point in time.
Good AI governance is the process of maintaining it.
Enough structure — without unnecessary bureaucracy.
AIGAS does not expect every accounting firm to operate like a multinational corporation. A small practice using a limited number of AI tools will have different risks and resources from a large multi-office firm deploying AI extensively across its operations.
The principle is therefore: governance should be proportionate to the way AI is actually being used. The objective is enough structure to provide visibility, control and accountability — without unnecessary bureaucracy.
For most firms, the first three steps are simple.
Build your AI Tool Register
Find out what AI is already being used.
Free Start the free AI Tool Register →Take the Self-Assessment
Understand the governance you already have and where gaps may exist.
Free · about 10 minutes Take the Self-Assessment →Choose your pathway
Decide whether Bronze or Silver is appropriate for your firm.
Compare Bronze and Silver →