Photo: Kristin Dos Santos from Los Angeles, California, United States (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Job description
Auditors dig into account books and accounting systems looking for deficient controls, duplicated effort, or non-compliance with laws and regulations, then report their findings to management along with recommended fixes. Accountants working in a broader capacity may instead focus on preparing financial statements or advising a company on how to record costs and budgetary data. The work is desk-bound and detail-heavy, done in a climate-controlled office where deadlines create real time pressure and getting the numbers exactly right is non-negotiable.
Pros
- Strong, steady demand with over 124,000 jobs and faster than average growth (4.6%)
- Clear bachelor's-degree entry point without requiring years of prior specialized experience
- Skills transfer across virtually every industry, since every organization needs financial oversight
Cons
- Deadline-driven pace, especially around audit and tax season crunches
- Above-average hours, often more than a standard 40-hour week
- Precision is essential; errors in financial records can trigger compliance or legal consequences
A typical day
An auditor's morning might open at a client's office, tying out cash balances against bank confirmations before a 10am walkthrough of their revenue process. A staff accountant, by contrast, spends it in the general ledger — clearing reconciling items and posting month-end journal entries. Lunch is often at the desk during busy season. The afternoon brings a review call with a senior about questions in the workpapers, then documenting findings precisely enough that a reviewer can retrace every number. Deadlines cluster around quarter-ends, so the pace breathes in and out over the year.
Tasks at the job
- Prepare detailed reports on audit findings.
- Report to management about asset utilization and audit results, and recommend changes in operations and financial activities.
- Collect and analyze data to detect deficient controls, duplicated effort, extravagance, fraud, or non-compliance with laws, regulations, and management policies.
- Inspect account books and accounting systems for efficiency, effectiveness, and use of accepted accounting procedures to record transactions.
- Supervise auditing of establishments, and determine scope of investigation required.
- Confer with company officials about financial and regulatory matters.
Workplace & working conditions
Work happens indoors in a climate-controlled setting, and most of the day is spent sitting at a desk.
The pace is often fast, with real time pressure to meet deadlines, and you're expected to exercise significant independent judgment day to day. Precision and accuracy are essential to the work.
Education necessary or common
Bachelor's degree
Common college majors
Licenses & certifications
- CPA (Certified Public Accountant) — the field's defining license
- CMA (Certified Management Accountant)
- CIA (Certified Internal Auditor)
Career path
Related fields
Courses to take
- Accounting (if your school offers it) — the debits-and-credits reflex starts here
- AP Statistics — sampling and materiality judgments are statistical at heart
- AP Calculus AB — quantitative rigor colleges expect from business majors
- AP English Language — audit findings live or die by clear writing
- Business Law or Economics — the rules and context behind the numbers
Clubs, activities & competitions
- FBLA — accounting competitive events exist at every level
- DECA finance events
- Treasurer of any club — real books, small stakes
- Volunteer tax prep (VITA sites take high-school volunteers in some areas)
First steps you can take now
- Take a free intro accounting course online and get through the accounting equation and journal entries
- Track every dollar you spend for a month in a real spreadsheet with categories
- Interview an accountant about what busy season is actually like
- Look up your state's 150-credit-hour CPA requirement so college planning starts informed
