Auditor vs forensic accountant

The differences between auditors and forensic accountants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a forensic accountant has an average salary of $66,833, which is higher than the $54,853 average annual salary of an auditor.

The top three skills for an auditor include audit reports, customer service and financial statements. The most important skills for a forensic accountant are CPA, litigation, and forensic accounting.

Auditor vs forensic accountant overview

	Auditor	Forensic Accountant
Yearly salary	$54,853	$66,833
Hourly rate	$26.37	$32.13
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	20,325	39,176
Job satisfaction	3	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	-	4

What does an auditor do?

An auditor is responsible for reviewing financial statements and making sure that the reports align with the accounting principles and legislative standards. Some of the important duties of an auditor are verifying the company's account statements, ensuring that the business is free from fraud and other unusual activities, providing recommendations to boost operations' performance, and creating financial reports for the board. An auditor should have excellent analytical and decision-making skills to spot inaccuracies of financial statements and resolve financial issues immediately.

What does a forensic accountant do?

Working close together with law enforcement agencies, a forensic accountant specializes in investigating potential fraud and financial crimes. Their responsibilities typically include performing extensive research and analysis, gathering and analyzing various forms of financial data and storage, reviewing and validating documents, verifying information, and conducting internal and external financial audits. Most of the time, a forensic accountant presents research findings to lawyers and judges as evidence, which will require them to participate and testify in court proceedings.

Auditor vs forensic accountant salary

Auditors and forensic accountants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Auditor	Forensic Accountant
Average salary	$54,853	$66,833
Salary range	Between $35,000 And $84,000	Between $44,000 And $100,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	New Jersey	Rhode Island
Best paying company	Microsoft	Berkeley Research Group
Best paying industry	Professional	Finance

Differences between auditor and forensic accountant education

There are a few differences between an auditor and a forensic accountant in terms of educational background:

	Auditor	Forensic Accountant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Auditor vs forensic accountant demographics

Here are the differences between auditors' and forensic accountants' demographics:

	Auditor	Forensic Accountant
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 44.9% Female, 55.1%	Male, 57.0% Female, 43.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.1% Asian, 12.1% White, 63.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.1% Asian, 12.1% White, 63.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between auditor and forensic accountant duties and responsibilities

Auditor example responsibilities.

Lead FDA readiness audits and participate in regulatory inspections.
Manage the collection, analysis and verification of managerial payroll information to detect fraud and/or unethical practices.
Work with department analyst to create measurement tools and methods for communicating results and managing QA analysis in compiling/reporting results.
Perform semi-annual financial audits w/ externally contract CPA to validate accounts payable and receivables.
Develop and facilitate training for SOX process owners and other stakeholders using Microsoft PowerPoint.
Work efficiently and effectively with various process owners to develop SOX specific business processes and mating documentation controls.

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Forensic accountant example responsibilities.

Prepare internal financial reports for treasury manage accounts include in external compliance reports.
Gain accounting and auditing experience with this CPA firm.
Select and roll out ERP software to meet company requirements.
Complete all tasks for a full service CPA firm independently with little supervision.
Inspect account books and accounting systems for efficiency, effectiveness, and use of GAAP to record transactions.
Prepare responses to interrogatories and requests for production documents.

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Auditor vs forensic accountant skills

Common auditor skills

Audit Reports, 18%
Customer Service, 8%
Financial Statements, 6%
Audit Findings, 5%
Audit Procedures, 5%
Payroll, 5%

Common forensic accountant skills

CPA, 21%
Litigation, 16%
Forensic Accounting, 8%
Financial Data, 7%
Fraud Investigations, 7%
CFE, 5%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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