Internal audit internship vs staff auditor

The differences between internal audit interns and staff auditors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a staff auditor has an average salary of $55,431, which is higher than the $30,264 average annual salary of an internal audit internship.

The top three skills for an internal audit internship include internal audit, data analytics and SOX. The most important skills for a staff auditor are audit procedures, CPA, and internal audit.

Internal audit internship vs staff auditor overview

	Internal Audit Internship	Staff Auditor
Yearly salary	$30,264	$55,431
Hourly rate	$14.55	$26.65
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	62,780	91,268
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 82%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	-	-

What does an internal audit internship do?

An internal audit intern is responsible for performing administrative and clerical duties as needed for the financial department under the supervision of tenured staff or a direct manager. Internal audit interns shadow staff on analyzing and preparing documents, familiarizing office operations, writing financial reports, verifying account statements, and escalating financial discrepancies to management for immediate resolution. An internal audit intern must be detail-oriented, as well as possess excellent analytical and organizational skills to handle tasks efficiently and spot audit inconsistencies.

What does a staff auditor do?

The duties of a staff auditor depend on their line of work or place of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around conducting financial audits and operational analysis to determine efficiency and compliance to regulations, coordinating with different departments to gather data, reach out to clients through calls or correspondence, and arrange appointments when necessary. A staff auditor may also perform clerical tasks such as produce progress reports, create presentations, respond to inquiries and concerns, and maintain extensive records and data.

Internal audit internship vs staff auditor salary

Internal audit interns and staff auditors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Internal Audit Internship	Staff Auditor
Average salary	$30,264	$55,431
Salary range	Between $12,000 And $71,000	Between $43,000 And $70,000
Highest paying City	New York, NY	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	New York	Alaska
Best paying company	MDU Resources	Signature Bank
Best paying industry	Energy	Professional

Differences between internal audit internship and staff auditor education

There are a few differences between an internal audit internship and a staff auditor in terms of educational background:

	Internal Audit Internship	Staff Auditor
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 82%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Internal audit internship vs staff auditor demographics

Here are the differences between internal audit interns' and staff auditors' demographics:

	Internal Audit Internship	Staff Auditor
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 50.7% Female, 49.3%	Male, 59.3% Female, 40.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 9.9% Asian, 18.5% White, 59.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 8.7% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.0% Asian, 13.3% White, 62.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between internal audit internship and staff auditor duties and responsibilities

Internal audit internship example 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.
Gather audit evidence/supporting documentation for the SOX compliance audit.
Document internal controls, conduct financial statement analysis, and perform daily tasks on Sarbanes-Oxley testing.

Staff auditor example responsibilities.

Manage accounting operations, accounting close, account reporting and reconciliations for internal corporate and bank transactions.
Review consolidated GAAP financial statements, inter-company eliminations and fluctuations between budget verses actual results.
Ensure engagements are in compliance with generally accept accounting principles (GAAP) and generally accept auditing standards (GAAS).
Conduct financial audits in accordance with GAAS to establish compliance with policies and procedures and to determine effectiveness of internal controls.
Collaborate closely with clients by educating them on new opportunities and conduct tax research and planning; train clients on QuickBooks.
Collaborate with the quality department in authoring ISO procedures for manufacturing engineering; key contributor on quality and ISO auditing teams.

Internal audit internship vs staff auditor skills

Common internal audit internship skills

Internal Audit, 22%
Data Analytics, 8%
SOX, 5%
Patients, 5%
Sarbanes-Oxley, 4%
Risk Management, 4%

Common staff auditor skills

Audit Procedures, 12%
CPA, 12%
Internal Audit, 7%
Audit Reports, 5%
Audit Findings, 5%
Compliance Audits, 4%

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Internal Audit Internship
Internal Audit Internship vs Staff Auditor

Updated January 8, 2025

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