Financial Auditor Career Information

Companies keep records of the money they earn and the money they spend. These records (often called “books”) may contain errors or omissions. Some mistakes cause no real problems, but others can result in fines. A Financial Auditor looks closely at a company’s books, and corrects any mistakes they find.

Financial Auditors may work for one company, examining its books on a periodic basis, or for a large auditing firm, examining many companies on a rotating basis. As a Financial Auditor, you put together a plan for the audit, listing when you’ll examine the books and when your work will be complete.

You look at the company’s books and compare the information you find with the data you receive from the company’s bank, creditors, and debtors. If you find a mistake, you talk to the person responsible for the books to determine how the mistake was made. You then correct the books accordingly. After that, you write a report about all the errors you found, and may train the company in accounting methods so employees don’t make the same mistake over and over again.

You may provide the results of your audit to shareholders who have a financial stake in the company. Your reports will help assure those shareholders that the company is in a sound financial state.

You’ll become an expert at finding small math errors, and learn to quickly add up numbers in your head. When you go out to dinner with a group of friends, they may ask you to calculate the tip, as they know you’ll do it properly without fudging the numbers to save yourself money.