An Auditor is a (qualified) accountant who carries out checks to ensure that the accounts presented by a company or organisation are accurate and present a true reflection of the company or organisation’s financial position.

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Auditors provide essential services to businesses, public sector organisations and charities that are obliged to have their financial accounts checked by an independent and external professional in order to ensure that their organisation is accurately reporting upon its financial status.

Many businesses employ Internal Auditors to ensure that all financial systems and procedures are sound throughout the organisation and to thoroughly prepare for the annual external auditing process.

Duties include:

• Gaining detailed knowledge and understanding of the organisation to be audited.
• Reviewing financial accounts, balance sheets and profit and loss reports.
• Working with clients to investigate specific items in reports.
• Identifying problems or potential problems.
• Analysing reporting processes and systems.
• A sound knowledge of statutory financial and corporate rules and regulations.
• Producing reports in relation to all of the above and also suggesting improvements.

Some auditors are called upon to work alone on a client's site, whereas more senior Auditors or Audit Managers may lead larger teams tasked with auditing large companies or organisations. All Auditors require excellent communication skills, due to frequent interaction with clients, both financial and non financial, as well as the need to produce detailed reports for senior managers and boards of directors. Auditors also require excellent attention to detail, analysis and problem solving skills and frequently work under the pressure of deadlines.

Qualifications

To become an Auditor you must be a qualified accountant, having completed the examinations from bodies such as the ACCA, ICAEW, ICAS or ICAI. You must retain your membership of your accounting body to work as an Auditor.

Salary snapshot

Recent salaries advertised on TopFinancialJobs (October 2009) include:

• £41-50,000 per annum for an Audit Senior (newly qualified) working for a firm of chartered accountants in London, servicing a client base of SMEs, along with some blue chip and AIM listed clients.
• £45-55,000 for a fully qualified Internal Auditor working as part of a team in London with a remit to audit companies within the UK and Europe.
• £42-45,000 for a newly qualified Audit Senior to work for a Big 4 accountancy firm in London, in a team providing services to smaller listed group companies to medium sized businesses.
• £40-55,000 for a qualified Audit Manager working in internal audit for a global defence manufacturing and aerospace company in Dorset.

Are you an Auditor? Would you like to contribute to our "Day in the Life of..." series? Email us at info@topfinancialjobs.co.uk for more details.