Received 5 PMs asking for further info about auditing as a career choice so easier to make a thread

NOTE: this applies to compliance and risk auditing,notfinancial auditing. I'm not an accountant.

Reasons why it's a low effort/high pay role:

-the onus of proof is on the group being audited. In law, for example, you need to prove on the balance of probabilities or beyond reasonable doubt that someone has done something wrong. By contrast, in audit, you request the audited entity to show evidence that they had systems and controls in place to achieve/prevent the relevant outcome. If they can't demonstrate that clearly, then your audit report simply states "auditee was unable to provide evidence/documentation to demonstrate effective systems in place for x..." Easiest report in the world to write.
-there is no real professional standard you can fall foul of. Again, in law there are right and wrong answers and the other side will contest the outcome. In audit, you give a 'negative assurance' - i.e. we came and conducted the audit in accordance with the standards and nothing untoward came to our attention. If later it turns out something was actually wrong, that doesn't reflect negatively on the auditor.
-If you're a terrible auditor and never find anything wrong, this actually makes you more popular with management lmao
-There is no need to actually figure out solutions to the problems you find. That's the job of management consulting (also a hugely lucrative field which frankly I need to get into, if I keep working a 'job')
-the need for an audit and risk committee and a chief audit executive is for many types of entities a legal requirement. So you basically can never be out of a job.
-your job can't be automated because much of what you do is checking that automated systems are producing the correct outcome.

Other random observations:

-there is no specific professional requirement other than membership of your local professional chapter (including IIA, INTOSAI, others). Relevant disciplines can include law, ICT, fraud control and investigation, statistics, maths,
-depending on the type of auditing it can involve travel as you often have to be on-site to conduct audits of systems etc
-as far as salary based jobs go, there's no hard limit, you can make it to the level of equity partner in a big four accounting firm but with a lot less knowledge or stress than say a lawyer or accountant
-you can also get hefty remuneration for sitting on company boards, senior management committees etc (fee based income).

Will check back on this thread but if you don't get an answer PM or leave a rep/(neg lol) in my CP and i'll respawn

Bump

You lost me about 3 lines in. If being autistic enough to find that meaningless drivel intriguing is what it takes to be an Australian real estate mogul of your stature, I think I will stay an American renter. Thanks for the reassurance that I'm on the right path op. Cheers "mate".

Odd response.

Cheers.

Can you rephrase this in retard-friendly language?

Like what are the actual steps to get into this role?

Bump

Spot for sale

Spoiler!

1/3

So one way is to get into a large multi-disciplinary management consulting firm. The type that does legal, accounting, audit and other professional services. Doesn’t matter how you get in, the audit partner will always be looking for people especially those willing to start at entry level running test programs and doing the analysis. Again, you don’t need any professional affiliation or qualification to get in, however these firms would generally want at least an undergrad for you to be working there. Of course if you have law, anything quantitative, accounting or anything in ICT they will take you straight away. From there you can join up with one of the associations (e.g Institute of Internal Auditors for generalist, there’s also associations like ISACA for ICT/cyber security auditors etc)

Note that in this role you are selling auditing services into other firms so there is some level of professional expertise but also some “marketing” involved. Audit is often the spearhead for the “land and expand” model to secure more business in other areas.

I have TAFE qualifications for IT and Business Administration. Cert III. Would that be enough?

2/3

Another avenue is through large banking and financial services firms, especially in major hubs like London and Singapore.

They are constantly being hit with new compliance obligations like anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism finance etc which may be based on OECD standards or jurisdictions may enact their own legislation. Also various types of “know your customer” rules for retail banking and investing.

Because of the size of these firms they will usually have their own internal audit/ compliance “shops” (note it’s not like financial statement where they must engage an external auditor) and again it’s a great way to work your way up

They also usually have a bunch of related shops like fraud prevention and control, ICT and legals which can provide an avenue in

Is there any way you could upgrade to the equivalent of a bachelors? Any type of IT is really good because most auditing these days involves being able to work with systems and pull data and also test compliance with cyber security standards etc

Just get into a consulting firm or a bank, I think once you have a foot in the door you can edge your way in

I'm in management consulting. How does it compare, salary wise?

3/3

Another entry point is through Government. Most governments have some kind of auditor, in Australia it’s the ANAO, in UK it’s the NAO, and also at a sub-National level (in Aus each state and territory has its own audit office). Most government agencies buy audit services from private consulting firms but some very large agencies have their own internal shops.

I have some colleagues who have either worked or sold services there and it’s probably not a good long-term plan. Dealing with civil servants is tough and the pay (if you work for them directly) is nothing compared to private.

Some people like it because there is job security particularly if you have a security clearance but overall I’d say to view it as a stepping stone only.

Only relatively junior people draw a salary. Once you’re leading a team you’re at equity.

Tbh I’d say overall opportunities for remuneration are about the same but management consulting is less difficult because you are being paid to come up with a solution (as opposed to audit where you’re explaining to people how and why they’ve f**ked up)

At that point it really depends where your talents lie.

I prefer audit on some level because there is a clear process and framework that you can explain to junior staff but yeah sometimes you have “difficult” discussions with senior management.

Also auditing gives (imo) more opportunities for fee-based remuneration as a member of governance and risk management committees and entity boards

What are people getting audited outside of financials? Health and safety?

I can't help but think it would be tough to get a job with hordes of financial auditor grads leaving the big 4 after becoming burnt out.

Making equity partner anywhere is tough. Back in the boomer days punch out your ten years and you're in. Nowadays you need to sell your soul and spend some serious time on your knees.

Compliance can be health and safety, financial services rules, AML/CTF, think about large mining companies and their environmental obligations, anything where companies are storing customer info on ICT systems, basically anything where large companies are depending on large numbers of employees to do something in accordance with legislation or company policy, you have to check whether the assurances and controls are operating effectively.

I’ve worked in legal and quantitative economics and auditing is just a cakewalk by comparison. Just one man’s opinion.

Re: the equity partner thing ok but also age:41. This is the first real leave I’ve taken since I was 19.

I am sure it is a good CAREER op but THAT was IMPOSSIBLE to read.