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The differences between compliance officers and auditors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a compliance officer has an average salary of $64,058, which is higher than the $54,853 average annual salary of an auditor.
The top three skills for a compliance officer include oversight, risk management and compliance program. The most important skills for an auditor are audit reports, customer service, and financial statements.
| Compliance Officer | Auditor | |
| Yearly salary | $64,058 | $54,853 |
| Hourly rate | $30.80 | $26.37 |
| Growth rate | - | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 69,161 | 20,325 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 3 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| Average age | 46 | 44 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A compliance officer is responsible for monitoring company operations, ensuring that all the processes and members are adhering to the regulatory and procedural policies set by the company. Compliance officers' duties also include proposing compliance programs, reviewing and updating existing company policies with management approval, taking immediate actions for policy violations, and mitigating risks. A compliance officer must have extensive knowledge of legal procedures and regulatory standards to manage and evaluate problems, providing meaningful solutions, and keep the company's positive reputation.
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.
Compliance officers and auditors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Compliance Officer | Auditor | |
| Average salary | $64,058 | $54,853 |
| Salary range | Between $42,000 And $96,000 | Between $35,000 And $84,000 |
| Highest paying City | Wilmington, DE | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Delaware | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Meta | Microsoft |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Professional |
There are a few differences between a compliance officer and an auditor in terms of educational background:
| Compliance Officer | Auditor | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| Most common major | Business | Accounting |
| Most common college | Harvard University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between compliance officers' and auditors' demographics:
| Compliance Officer | Auditor | |
| Average age | 46 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 48.8% Female, 51.2% | Male, 44.9% Female, 55.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 8.3% White, 59.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | 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% |
| LGBT Percentage | 12% | 7% |