what is an auditor 
an auditor is a person authorized to review and verify the accuracy of financial records and ensure that companies comply with tax laws they protect businesses from fraud point out discrepancies in accounting methods and on occasion work on a consultancy basis helping organizations to spot ways to boost operational efficiency auditors work in various capacities within different industries investopedia dennis madambaunderstanding an auditorauditors assess financial operations and ensure that organizations are run efficiently they are tasked with tracking cash flow from beginning to end and verifying that an organization s funds are properly accounted for in the case of public companies the main duty of an auditor is to determine whether financial statements follow generally accepted accounting principles gaap to meet this requirement auditors inspect accounting data financial records and operational aspects of a business and take detailed notes on each step of the process known as an audit trail once complete the auditor s findings are presented in a report that appears as a preface in financial statements separate private reports may also be issued to company management and regulatory authorities as well the securities and exchange commission sec demands that the books of all public companies are regularly examined by external independent auditors in compliance with official auditing procedures 1 official procedures are established by the international auditing and assurance standards board iaasb a committee of the international federation of accountants ifac 2unqualified opinion vs qualified opinionauditor reports are usually accompanied by an unqualified opinion these statements confirm that the company s financial statements conform to gaap without providing judgment or an interpretation 3