Title: Examining A Career As An Auditor
Headings: Examining A Career As An Auditor
Examining A Career As An Auditor
Content: Strong and/or ambitious types may attempt to dissuade auditors from revealing embarrassing findings. Auditors need to be team players. As the scope of the audit can be fairly large, it is beneficial to help in other areas of an audit when resource constraints warrant it. Finally, "professional skepticism" is an important trait to have, especially when reviewing a company's internal controls. One needs to assess how perpetrators of fraud can beat a company's controls, and auditors need to design and implement a system that can effectively protect the organization's assets. Educational Requirements Internal and external auditors typically have a college or master's degree with business-related majors such as accounting, finance and economics. Larger accounting firms and internal audit departments will typically want their auditors to possess certifications such as Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Government Auditing Professional (CGAP) or Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), among others. Out of these, the CPA is regarded as the most credible, as auditors interface with employees, managers, executives, members of the board and external parties. ( To read more about the CPA designation, see CPA, CFA Or CFP® - Pick Your Abbreviation Carefully and Accounting Not Just For Nerds Anymore .) What Auditors Do for Companies An audit may be executed on IT financial-reporting mechanisms, where auditors assess whether the numbers being processed and reported by the IT/accounting software are reliable, accurate and timely.