A person trained and qualified to better individuals through auditing is called an auditor. According to the government’s rules, an audit of any public or private company shall have an auditor to audit their accounts. The audit of annual accounts of a company is compulsory and it is the mandatory part of an incorporated business. To do audits of the company/organization, an auditor is appointed. An auditing professional is one who is accountable for assessing an aspect of a particular project, individual or business.
Auditor Duties and Responsibilities
- An Auditor has tasks that determine the efficiency level present in a production process in a certain business, as well as the authenticity of its financial records for the business.
- Auditors are appointed by the Board of Directors of the company.
- An auditor can be in any organization or a professional hired independently.
- When an auditor begins to work for an organization, he/she is referred to as the internal auditor.
- An auditor conducts audits in the organization regularly, generally every quarter or in some organizations once in a year.
- An auditor not working for any particular organization/company and works individually is referred to as the external auditor.
- An external auditor is the one who can audit in accordance with specific rules and laws on the financial statements of an organization/company/government or other entity.
Auditor Qualification and Skills
Education/Training:
- To become an auditor, one should have a bachelor’s degree in accounting. Whether it will be a bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science in accounting.
- This mainly begins with basic principles in accounting, like financial statements and profit planning.
- Advanced degree programs were also there in which they complete a Master of Science in accounting or Masters of Business administration (MBA) with a concentration in accounting.
- These specialized programs allow students more flexibility to tailor their education according to their interests.
- CIA (Certified Internal Auditor) designation happens to be the solely accepted certification globally for internal auditors. It is the only standard through which individuals’ professionalism and competency are demonstrated in the field of internal auditing.
- CIA exam is available through computer-based testing, allowing you to test year-round at more than 500 locations worldwide.
Skills required to become an Auditor:
These are the skills which are required to become an Auditor:
- An auditor should have tough skills in business management and its processes.
- An auditor should be good at accounts and mathematics.
- They should focus on quality.
- They should be independent, ethical and objective.
- There should be efficient in their work and whatever they perform is with professionalism.
- Objectivity should be there in a good auditor.
- They should have good communication skills so that they can efficiently strengthen an organization’s dedication to strong controls internally.
Professional Growth:
Auditing mainly depends on the accounts. As we know an auditor is mandatory in any public or private firm, it has a huge scope. An auditor’s report is considered as an essential tool when reporting financial information to users, particularly in business.
The report of an auditor is just one opinion explaining if the information presented is correct and also free from objective misstatements, whereas every other determination is left for the user’s to decide.
The annual income of an auditor varies from $85,000 to $105,000. Starting your career as an external auditor is good because it will ultimately lead to good designation ultimately. No doubt competition is more in auditing but there’s a huge scope of early rise in salary.
