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Audit internship vs tax associate

The differences between audit interns and tax associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a tax associate has an average salary of $62,466, which is higher than the $48,313 average annual salary of an audit internship.

The top three skills for an audit internship include audit procedures, risk assessments and CPA. The most important skills for a tax associate are strong customer service, CPA, and tax planning.

Audit internship vs tax associate overview

Audit InternshipTax Associate
Yearly salary$48,313$62,466
Hourly rate$23.23$30.03
Growth rate6%6%
Number of jobs59,05342,019
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 75%Bachelor's Degree, 56%
Average age4447
Years of experience--

What does an audit internship do?

An audit intern is responsible for assisting the finance department in processing financial reports, analyzing account statements, releasing invoices, and conducting tax audits. Audit interns shadow tenured staff on the operation procedures to familiarize themselves with work processes. They are also tasked to do administrative and clerical duties under the supervision of a direct supervisor, such as writing reports, ensuring the accuracy of financial statements, responding to clients' inquiries and concerns, and escalating high-level complaints to the supervisor for immediate resolution.

What does a tax associate do?

Tax associates are responsible for helping businesses and individuals with state and federal income tax preparation and compliance. These professionals often work for accounting firms and financial services companies. They perform varied tasks that include reviewing income statements, financial records, and expenditures, interviewing clients about income and expenses, and minimizing their clients' tax liability. Tax associates also conduct research on tax issues and assist with tax audits, advise clients on compensation and tax information, and maintain accurate and current client records.

Audit internship vs tax associate salary

Audit interns and tax associates have different pay scales, as shown below.

Audit InternshipTax Associate
Average salary$48,313$62,466
Salary rangeBetween $32,000 And $71,000Between $40,000 And $95,000
Highest paying CityNew York, NYLas Vegas, NV
Highest paying stateAlaskaNevada
Best paying companyRSM USRopes & Gray
Best paying industryProfessionalFinance

Differences between audit internship and tax associate education

There are a few differences between an audit internship and a tax associate in terms of educational background:

Audit InternshipTax Associate
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 75%Bachelor's Degree, 56%
Most common majorAccountingAccounting
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Southern California

Audit internship vs tax associate demographics

Here are the differences between audit interns' and tax associates' demographics:

Audit InternshipTax Associate
Average age4447
Gender ratioMale, 51.9% Female, 48.1%Male, 36.4% Female, 63.6%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 7.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 9.7% Asian, 17.9% White, 60.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 10.2% White, 57.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage7%8%

Differences between audit internship and tax associate duties and responsibilities

Audit internship example responsibilities.

  • Manage audit finalization, SOX audit and internal audit of multinational companies
  • Manage accounting operations, accounting close, account reporting and reconciliations for internal corporate and bank transactions.
  • Conduct FDA submission projects including projects.
  • Assist the senior manager to make PowerPoint presentation.
  • Work with senior management to prepare PowerPoint presentations for clients.
  • Have currently effective BLS and ACLS certificates, confidently run codes.
  • Show more

Tax associate example responsibilities.

  • Provide tax planning and preparation services for corporate, individual and high net-worth clients of this midsize CPA firm.
  • Implement process to identify and prepare the balances for W2 purposes at year end.
  • Prepare customer taxes from w-2's and other tax information, answer phones, print checks, filing
  • Resolve a major system problems with split process level errors so employee W2's and companies returns are correct.
  • Respond to inquiries from the IRS and other tax authorities regarding reconciliation of filings, liabilities, and other associate matters.
  • Advise clients on questions they have pertaining to their tax liabilities and ensure that they are compliant to the IRS regulations.
  • Show more

Audit internship vs tax associate skills

Common audit internship skills
  • Audit Procedures, 18%
  • Risk Assessments, 15%
  • CPA, 11%
  • GAAP, 9%
  • Audit Intern, 7%
  • First Hand, 5%
Common tax associate skills
  • Strong Customer Service, 26%
  • CPA, 13%
  • Tax Planning, 6%
  • Taxation, 5%
  • Tax Research, 4%
  • Local Tax Returns, 4%

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