How To Become An Internal Audit Internship: What It Is and Career Path

What is an internal audit internship and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Internal audit interns work under the director of internal auditing and are tasked with assisting in preparing and conducting departmental quality assessment reviews. They help in monitoring departmental budget and development as well as documenting departmental policies and procedures. They also assist in conducting internal audits and follow-up audit work. Internal audit interns earn a median sum of $56.91 per hour, roughly $118,380 per year. Internal audit interns are basically learning how to perform their duties without getting paid for it.

They are entry-level professionals who follow trainer instructions, gather and analyze data, and examine company accounts. Part of their duties may include obtaining audit evidence from audit clients and tracking management action plans' status to completion. Internal audit interns have a keen eye for detail and are always willing to learn new things.

Internal audit interns are usually students taking their degree in business or accounting from an accredited university. Some are fresh graduates hoping to learn and expand their knowledge base before assuming a more significant role. They are expected to be proficient in using computer systems and possess the ability to follow instructions.

ScoreInternal Audit InternshipUS Average

Salary

2.4

Avg. Salary $30,264

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.0

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.45%

Asian 18.49%

Black or African American 7.63%

Hispanic or Latino 9.94%

Unknown 3.91%

White 59.57%

Gender

female 49.31%

male 50.69%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

7.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.9

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.1

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an internal audit internship

Explore internal audit internship education requirements

Most common internal audit internship degrees

Bachelor's

66.8 %

Master's

13.9 %

Doctorate

9.2 %

Start to develop specific internal audit internship skills

Skills	Percentages
Internal Audit	21.95%
Data Analytics	7.73%
SOX	5.40%
Patients	5.05%
Sarbanes-Oxley	4.43%

Complete relevant internal audit internship training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New internal audit interns learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an internal audit internship based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real internal audit internship resumes.

Research internal audit internship duties and responsibilities

Test Sarbanes-Oxley controls for institutional billing, wholesaler incentive compensation, retail manage account revenue, and journal entry processing.
Review management's SOX testing, identify exceptions and communicate to management.
Perform basic bookkeeping, keeping accurate track of numerous transactions per GAAP standards.
Perform substantive testing of revenue, purchases, and payments in order to evaluate accuracy and compliance with GAAP.

Prepare your internal audit internship resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your internal audit internship resume.

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Choose from 10+ customizable internal audit internship resume templates

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