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What does a compliance auditor do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
What does a compliance auditor do

A compliance auditor is responsible for reviewing the company's policies and procedures, ensuring the organization's adherence to state and federal regulations. Compliance auditors inspect the operations of each department, adjusting internal guidelines as needed. They also inspect the condition of all facilities, including tools and equipment, network systems, and business operations. A compliance auditor mitigates risks by analyzing the operational processes and conducting a risk assessment study to prevent compliance issues that may pose a negative effect on the company's performance and stability.

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Compliance auditor responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real compliance auditor resumes:

  • Work with department analyst to create measurement tools and methods for communicating results and managing QA analysis in compiling/reporting results.
  • Identify any issues that do not conform to CFR, ICH guidelines and corporate expectations.
  • Research HIPAA information from CMS website in order to determine correct revisions for policies and procedures and develop company-wide communications.
  • Coordinate team meetings, maintain calendars, support team with PowerPoint presentations.
  • Prepare and perform in-house presentations (both in person and using JoinMe) using PowerPoint.
  • Evaluate the level of compliance with company policy, GAAP, contract requirements and applicable rules and regulations.
  • Perform aircraft conformity inspections in accordance with the aircraft on certificate process (14 CFR part 135).
  • Maintain strictest confidentiality; adhere to all HIPAA guidelines/regulations.
  • Research BSA/AML regulatory requirements to support mitigation of compliance risks.
  • Audit medical records against CMS documentation guidelines and/or establish internal guidelines.
  • Communicate and monitor international associates to ensure GAAP is being follow.
  • Submit NCAA rules interpretation inquiries, review legislation, and report all institutional infractions.
  • Review protocols to ensure experimental design is adequately describe and all GLP requirements are meet.
  • Perform detailed investigations, prepare suspicious activity reports and evaluate adequacy and effectiveness of BSA/AML controls.
  • Monitor members flag by OFAC as potential specifically designate nationals and reconcile member data with OFAC system.

Compliance auditor skills and personality traits

We calculated that 7% of Compliance Auditors are proficient in Audit Findings, Compliance Audits, and Audit Reports. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Detail oriented.

We break down the percentage of Compliance Auditors that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Audit Findings, 7%

    Recommended corrective actions upon audit findings of non-compliance within departments; would re-audit to ensure corrective measures were taken as necessary.

  • Compliance Audits, 7%

    Prepared for and conducted hundreds of process compliance audits, analyzing documentation and eliciting further information through interview techniques.

  • Audit Reports, 6%

    Prepare final audit reports and communicate to departmental and delegated entities the corrective action required to correct the deficiencies identified.

  • Audit Results, 4%

    Led and participated in multiple projects designed to evaluate compliance with regulatory requirements and determine key metrics for audit results.

  • CPT, 4%

    Provide expertise on physician practice coding regarding evaluation and management coding (CMS 95/97 guidelines) ICD-9 and CPT procedure codes.

  • Compliance Program, 4%

    Developed audit strategies and maintained the HIPAA medical privacy and information security compliance programs in a given organization.

Common skills that a compliance auditor uses to do their job include "audit findings," "compliance audits," and "audit reports." You can find details on the most important compliance auditor responsibilities below.

Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform compliance auditor duties is communication skills. Compliance auditors responsibilities require that "accountants and auditors must be able to listen to and discuss facts and concerns from clients, managers, and other stakeholders." Compliance auditors also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "managed product recall, including all communications with the fda, to closure. "

Detail oriented. This is an important skill for compliance auditors to perform their duties. For an example of how compliance auditor responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "accountants and auditors must pay attention to detail when compiling and examining documents." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a compliance auditor: "executed detailed audit procedures, including reviewing documents, records, reports and policies and procedures for accuracy and effectiveness. ".

Math skills. compliance auditor responsibilities often require "math skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "accountants and auditors must be able to analyze, compare, and interpret facts and figures." This resume example shows what compliance auditors do with math skills on a typical day: "submit monthly statistics report to qa manager. "

Organizational skills. Another common skill required for compliance auditor responsibilities is "organizational skills." This skill comes up in the duties of compliance auditors all the time, as "strong organizational skills are important for accountants and auditors, who often work with a range of financial documents for a variety of clients." An excerpt from a real compliance auditor resume shows how this skill is central to what a compliance auditor does: "created comprehensive organizational internal controls manual for the use of upper management and staff. "

All compliance auditor skills

The three companies that hire the most compliance auditors are:

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Compare different compliance auditors

Compliance auditor vs. Regulatory affairs specialist

A regulatory affairs specialist assists in securing and maintaining government approval for nutritional products, drugs, medical devices, and related supplies. They are often employed by medical, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology companies. They may also work in the government or law. Typically, they work on document preparation, file maintenance, information management, and coordination of tasks across various departments. They expanded their duties and responsibilities as a result of company acquisitions and restructuring, worldwide globalization of markets, and constantly evolving regulations.

If we compare the average compliance auditor annual salary with that of a regulatory affairs specialist, we find that regulatory affairs specialists typically earn a $5,454 higher salary than compliance auditors make annually.While their salaries may differ, the common ground between compliance auditors and regulatory affairs specialists are a few of the skills required in each roleacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities. In both careers, employee duties involve skills like patients, medicaid, and cms.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, compliance auditor responsibilities require skills like "audit findings," "compliance audits," "audit reports," and "audit results." Meanwhile a typical regulatory affairs specialist has skills in areas such as "regulatory affairs," "medical devices," "regulatory submissions," and "excellent interpersonal." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

Regulatory affairs specialists tend to reach similar levels of education than compliance auditors. In fact, regulatory affairs specialists are 3.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.6% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Compliance auditor vs. Audit specialist

An audit specialist is responsible for evaluating the reports by a professional auditor that will assist in improving the growth of the organization to achieve its goals and objectives. Audit specialists aid in the development of the company by using a systematic approach to reach the goals set by the company. Primary responsibilities include operating complex and difficult audit projects and conducting audits of control, financial, and other operating records. Also, they develop, implement distinct audit strategies, programs, and procedures for intricate assignments.

A career as a audit specialist brings a lower average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a compliance auditor. In fact, audit specialists salary is $6,315 lower than the salary of compliance auditors per year.A few skills overlap for compliance auditors and audit specialists. Resumes from both professions show that the duties of each career rely on skills like "audit findings," "compliance audits," and "audit reports. "

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that compliance auditor responsibilities requires skills like "compliance program," "icd-10," "state regulations," and "hcpcs." But an audit specialist might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "data entry," "powerpoint," "excellent interpersonal," and "regulatory standards."

Audit specialists earn a lower average salary than compliance auditors. But audit specialists earn the highest pay in the professional industry, with an average salary of $72,330. Additionally, compliance auditors earn the highest salaries in the finance with average pay of $70,894 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Audit specialists tend to reach similar levels of education than compliance auditors. In fact, they're 2.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Compliance auditor vs. Auditor/quality

A quality auditor is responsible for inspecting the company's services and products, ensuring its adherence to business requirements and internal regulations. Quality auditors analyze the efficiency of operational functions and production processes to maintain high-quality deliverables with the utmost consideration for the safety and security of the production staff. They run quality checks for the outputs, create findings reports, and strategize methodologies to enhance stability by utilizing standard testing parameters. A quality auditor must have excellent communication and organizational skills, as they may also recommend opportunities to generate more resources and increase revenues.

An average auditor/quality eans a lower salary compared to the average salary of compliance auditors. The difference in salaries amounts to auditors/quality earning a $29,294 lower average salary than compliance auditors.By looking over several compliance auditors and auditors/quality resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "audit findings," "audit reports," and "audit results." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from compliance auditor resumes include skills like "compliance audits," "cpt," "compliance program," and "icd-10," whereas an auditor/quality is more likely to list skills in "excellent interpersonal," "excellent organizational," "quality standards," and "calipers. "

Auditors/quality make a very good living in the retail industry with an average annual salary of $40,479. On the other hand, compliance auditors are paid the highest salary in the finance industry, with average annual pay of $70,894.auditors/quality typically earn lower educational levels compared to compliance auditors. Specifically, they're 5.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Compliance auditor vs. Senior internal auditor

A Senior Internal Auditor performs the planning and execution of regulatory, financial, and operational audits. They supervise auditors work and make recommendations through giving them review notes.

Senior internal auditors average a higher salary than the annual salary of compliance auditors. The difference is about $16,314 per year.While both compliance auditors and senior internal auditors complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like audit findings, compliance audits, and audit reports, the two careers vary in some skills.While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "cpt," "compliance program," "icd-10," and "patients" are skills that commonly show up on compliance auditor resumes. On the other hand, senior internal auditors use skills like risk management, professional standards, external auditors, and acls on their resumes.In general, senior internal auditors earn the most working in the finance industry, with an average salary of $92,225. The highest-paying industry for a compliance auditor is the finance industry.In general, senior internal auditors hold higher degree levels compared to compliance auditors. Senior internal auditors are 6.0% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 1.7% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of compliance auditor

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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