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The differences between senior auditors and lead auditors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a lead auditor has an average salary of $85,352, which is higher than the $74,382 average annual salary of a senior auditor.
The top three skills for a senior auditor include CPA, internal audit and audit reports. The most important skills for a lead auditor are ISO, medicare, and management system.
| Senior Auditor | Lead Auditor | |
| Yearly salary | $74,382 | $85,352 |
| Hourly rate | $35.76 | $41.03 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 23,025 | 20,504 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 58% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
Senior auditors have a vital role to play in the financial auditing process. They hold more responsibilities compared to staff auditors and report to an auditing manager directly. They have varied duties and responsibilities, including assigning tasks to staff auditors, overseeing compliant and precise auditing processes, and performing control and risk assessments. Senior auditors also are responsible for presenting audit findings, coordinating periodical audits, and submitting reports to the manager. If you are looking to apply for this role, you need to have a bachelor's degree in accounting or finance, strong analytical and mathematical skills, and proficiency in MS Office.
Lead auditors are professionals who are responsible for providing leadership and coordinating work schedules to a team of audit experts within an organization. These lead auditors are required to prepare audit plans and conduct team meetings before conducting internal or external audits at the end of the quarter or year. They must conduct audits to provide reviews to the management about the effectiveness of the overall quality system. Lead auditors must also develop action plans to improve the financial reporting systems of the organization.
Senior auditors and lead auditors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Auditor | Lead Auditor | |
| Average salary | $74,382 | $85,352 |
| Salary range | Between $54,000 And $101,000 | Between $62,000 And $115,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | New York | New York |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Professional |
There are a few differences between a senior auditor and a lead auditor in terms of educational background:
| Senior Auditor | Lead Auditor | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 58% |
| Most common major | Accounting | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between senior auditors' and lead auditors' demographics:
| Senior Auditor | Lead Auditor | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 62.7% Female, 37.3% | Male, 57.9% Female, 42.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.6% Asian, 14.2% White, 62.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 8.7% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.0% Asian, 12.2% White, 63.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |