Internal auditor job profile

Internal auditors inspect the financial records of a company and deal with operating issues crucial to the smooth running of an organisation

As an internal auditor, you'll provide an independent guarantee that an organisation's risk management, governance and control processes are operating effectively. You'll work within businesses and organisations to monitor and evaluate how well risks are being managed, how the business is running and if internal processes are working.

The scope and nature of audits can vary significantly, but the main priority of your work is to ensure any issues that affect the survival and prosperity of the business are dealt with.

Auditing also includes a consulting service, advising management on how to improve their systems and processes, and in turn providing evidence to present to stakeholders.

The work of an internal auditor differs to that of external auditors as they look at more than financial and accounting risks. They also consider factors such as reputation, growth, environmental impact, treatment of employees and ethics.

Responsibilities

As an internal auditor, you'll need to:

attend meetings with auditees to develop an understanding of business processes
travel to different sites to meet relevant staff and obtain documents and information
research and assess how well risk management processes are working and record the results using software such as Microsoft Word and Excel
provide ad hoc advice and guidance to managers and staff at all levels, sometimes by delivering courses and training sessions
perform risk assessments on key business activities and use this information to guide what should be covered in audits
use analytical skills and technical expertise to carry out audit testing activities, identifying any control issues within an organisation's operations
anticipate emerging issues through research and interviews and decide how best to deal with them
raise issues and concerns and make recommendations for action
provide support and guidance to management on how to handle new opportunities
agree recommendations with relevant staff members to make improvements to operations and help to secure backing for them in meetings
prepare reports to highlight issues and problems and distribute the reports to the relevant people
assess how well the business is complying with rules and regulations and inform management of any issues that need addressing
manage a variety of stakeholders and their expectations through regular communications.

Salary

Internal auditors with one to three years' experience can expect to earn salaries of £22,000 to £35,000. Those who are just starting out may earn slightly less.
Salaries tend to increase at a steady rate over time, with those who have three to seven years' experience earning £32,000 to £53,000.
If you're working as an experienced manager or at director level, you could see a salary of over £70,000.

Figures are intended as a guide only.

Working hours

Working hours tend to be normal office hours. Those working in large practices typically work some irregular overtime.

What to expect

The work is usually office-based, but travel within a working day may be required to visit other sites when carrying out audit fieldwork.
Many jobs are based in London and main cities but due to many organisations needing internal auditing, opportunities are available in smaller towns in the regions.
Internal auditing is a corporate function mainly in medium to large organisations and, as such, work may be available on a global level, particularly with companies that have overseas offices.
Opportunities for part-time work, flexible working and career breaks are available, but tend to vary by employer.
Around 25% of internal auditors are women. Many of the large employers of internal auditors will have equality and diversity policies in place.

Qualifications

Internal audit is a varied role and individuals come from a range of backgrounds and levels of education. The career is open to all graduates but a degree, HND or foundation degree in one of the following subjects may be considered beneficial and could increase your chances of future promotion:

accountancy
economics
finance
IT.

If you don't have a degree, HND or foundation degree it's still possible to enter the profession, particularly if you have some related pre-entry work experience. You'll be able to progress as you develop on-the-job knowledge and responsibilities.

A postgraduate qualification isn't necessary, but it can be useful. Relevant subjects include an MBA or other Masters-level qualification in related subjects, such as economics or business studies.

The Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) has two apprenticeships designed for those with some experience in other fields but who don't hold a degree. These are:

Internal audit practitioner - a Level 4 apprenticeship. Designed for those who are newly appointed to an internal audit role or existing internal audit staff who'd like to improve their knowledge and understanding of internal audit. You will work towards two IIA qualifications: the IIA Certificate in Internal Audit and Business Risk and the Internal Audit Practitioner.
Internal audit professional - a Level 7 apprenticeship. For experienced internal auditors and includes the full CIA qualification. It leads directly to Chartered membership of the institute (CMIIA).

Skills

You need to demonstrate the following characteristics and skills:

the ability to use your own initiative
analytical thinking and attention to detail
the ability to work effectively on your own and as part of a team
strong ethical standards and high levels of integrity
the ability to think objectively and demonstrate sound judgement
strong communication skills, both written and verbal
organisation and facilitation skills
resilience under pressure
flexible thinking and ability to adapt to change.

Work experience

Try to get some work experience as this will increase your chances of getting a job in internal audit.

Summer internships and work placements are available with accountancy and consultancy firms. Student membership with IIA is a helpful resource, providing access to trade press, updates in the sector and networking opportunities.

Employers

While there are no legal requirements for businesses to have internal auditors, many companies and organisations recognise the benefits of it and therefore have internal auditing departments.

This means the pool of employers is large and includes:

accountancy firms - such as the 'big four' - KPMG, Ernst & Young, PwC and Deloitte. These companies employ internal auditors to perform audits on behalf of their clients within their clients' businesses and organisations.
private and publicly traded companies - where internal auditors perform in-house audits within the business.
public sector - delivering in-house audits in organisations such as central government departments, local authorities, regulators and higher education institutions.

There are lots of internal auditing opportunities across the world. IIA has a wide scope, comprised of over 10,000 members from the UK and Ireland alone. It's also a part of the Global IIA, which operates across 190 countries and has 180,000 members.

Look for job vacancies at:

Sending speculative applications can be fruitful.

Specialist recruitment agencies such as Renaix also handle vacancies.

Professional development

Training varies by employer but is typically carried out on the job. It's also possible to take professional qualifications with IIA, including:

IIA Certificate in Internal Audit and Business Risk - suitable if you're new to internal audit, as this qualification will provide you with the essentials of audit, governance, risk and assurance. This is a modular course and takes around one year to complete.
Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) - this is a globally-recognised postgraduate award and is the first step to achieving chartered internal auditor status.

Information on the requirements for each qualification is available at IIA - Qualifications.

IIA also runs many courses, conferences and events that are good for networking and developing knowledge and skills. Events cover relevant topics including audit of taxation, preventing organisation failures, assurance mapping and audit report writing.

IIA members have to commit to maintaining their levels of continuing professional development (CPD). IIA can help with this and can provide access to a CPD planner and competency framework, which can help you to decide what skills you need to develop and work on.

Career prospects

The typical path of progression in internal audit is from junior auditor to senior audit management.

You may be able to work your way up internally within the business or you may need to move employers, perhaps to a bigger organisation, to find an opportunity at the next level. Being flexible and able to relocate will help your development prospects.

Specialising in a certain area of auditing, or acquiring professional qualifications, such as becoming a chartered internal auditor or chartered accountant, will enhance your prospects.

The transferable skills you develop relating to how a business works can make it possible to move into other areas such as IT, finance, sales or marketing.

It may be possible to become an internal audit consultant and be self-employed, once you've built up a strong network and client base, which often takes many years.

Internal auditor