What does a staff accountant/auditor do?
A staff accountant keeps records of credit collection and supervises insurance in the accounting office. They schedule work assignments and distribute work to employees. They manage billing methods in their office and oversee high volumes of transactions.
Staff accountant/auditor responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real staff accountant/auditor resumes:
- Manage accounting operations, accounting close, account reporting and reconciliations for internal corporate and bank transactions.
- Review and compile quarterly and annual financial statements on GAAP, cash, accrual, and tax basis.
- Generate financial statements according to GAAP regulations.
- Audit private businesses and individuals whose activities are subject to government regulation or taxation.
- Perform monthly sales commission analysis to identify missing accruals and communicate any necessary adjustments to the business teams.
- Excel, word, PowerPoint.
- Create a PowerPoint presentation and provide decision support for compliance with policies.
- Develop user documentation, including SAAS reference manuals and training material.
Staff accountant/auditor skills and personality traits
We calculated that 18% of Staff Accountant/Auditors are proficient in CPA, Audit Procedures, and Analytical Procedures. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Staff Accountant/Auditors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- CPA, 18%
Performed audit, compilation and review of various company's financial statements * Passed all parts of New York CPA exam.
- Audit Procedures, 15%
Performed audit procedures of client's financial statements to evaluate and verify accuracy of internal controls.
- Analytical Procedures, 6%
Audited client controls, performed analytical procedures, and prepared work papers documenting compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.
- Income Tax Returns, 6%
Examined financial statement accounts and prepared income tax returns for manufacturing, retail and non-profit organizations.
- Journal Entries, 4%
Analyze accounts, make adjusting/ reclassification journal entries and applies accounting and analytic procedures.
- Reconciliations, 4%
Trained, motivated and partnered with associates at 95 retail locations to manage separate receivable accounts and associated monthly account reconciliations.
"cpa," "audit procedures," and "analytical procedures" are among the most common skills that staff accountant/auditors use at work. You can find even more staff accountant/auditor responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling staff accountant/auditor duties is communication skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "accountants and auditors must be able to listen to and discuss facts and concerns from clients, managers, and other stakeholders." According to a staff accountant/auditor resume, here's how staff accountant/auditors can utilize communication skills in their job responsibilities: "experience with diverse client base including: biotech, internet, manufacturing, real estate, software, technology and telecommunications. "
Detail oriented. staff accountant/auditors are also known for detail oriented, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to staff accountant/auditor responsibilities, because "accountants and auditors must pay attention to detail when compiling and examining documents." A staff accountant/auditor resume example shows how detail oriented is used in the workplace: "performed audits of private, non-profit and governmental entities including detail testing of financial statements. "
Math skills. For certain staff accountant/auditor responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "math skills." The day-to-day duties of a staff accountant/auditor rely on this skill, as "accountants and auditors must be able to analyze, compare, and interpret facts and figures." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what staff accountant/auditors do: "created reports of audit findings with statistics, recommendations, and trends. "
Organizational skills. A commonly-found skill in staff accountant/auditor job descriptions, "organizational skills" is essential to what staff accountant/auditors do. Staff accountant/auditor responsibilities rely on this skill because "strong organizational skills are important for accountants and auditors, who often work with a range of financial documents for a variety of clients." You can also see how staff accountant/auditor duties rely on organizational skills in this resume example: "assisted on corporate and non-profit organizational audits and prepared corporate, partnership, individual and payroll tax returns. "
The three companies that hire the most staff accountant/auditors are:
- U H Y Advisors
4 staff accountant/auditors jobs
- ForTec Medical2 staff accountant/auditors jobs
- LBMC2 staff accountant/auditors jobs
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Compare different staff accountant/auditors
Staff accountant/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.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between staff accountant/auditors and auditor/quality. For instance, staff accountant/auditor responsibilities require skills such as "cpa," "audit procedures," "analytical procedures," and "income tax returns." Whereas a auditor/quality is skilled in "excellent interpersonal," "excellent organizational," "customer service," and "audit results." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Auditors/quality tend to make the most money working in the retail industry, where they earn an average salary of $40,479. In contrast, staff accountant/auditors make the biggest average salary, $63,211, in the professional industry.The education levels that auditors/quality earn slightly differ from staff accountant/auditors. In particular, auditors/quality are 4.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a staff accountant/auditor. Additionally, they're 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Staff accountant/auditor vs. Revenue auditor
A revenue auditor reads through the organization's finances and records revenue derived from the sale of goods and services. They then create reports indicating all their calculations and recommendations to ensure the organization runs effectively and makes a profit. Their duties and responsibilities include preparing a detailed report on the organization's finances and offering recommendations. Auditors also report cases of fraud or misuse of funds.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, staff accountant/auditor responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "cpa," "analytical procedures," "income tax returns," and "journal entries." Meanwhile, a revenue auditor has duties that require skills in areas such as "revenue audit," "cpt," "data entry," and "appeals." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Revenue auditors earn a lower average salary than staff accountant/auditors. But revenue auditors earn the highest pay in the retail industry, with an average salary of $55,600. Additionally, staff accountant/auditors earn the highest salaries in the professional with average pay of $63,211 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Revenue auditors tend to reach lower levels of education than staff accountant/auditors. In fact, they're 5.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for staff accountant/auditors in the next 3-5 years?
Terri Walsh
Professor/Program Manager, Accounting, Seminole State College of Florida
Staff accountant/auditor vs. Associate auditor
An Associate Auditor assists in the review and evaluation of operational and management control systems. They also assist clients with routine accounting functions.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a staff accountant/auditor is likely to be skilled in "cpa," "income tax returns," "reconciliations," and "payroll tax returns," while a typical associate auditor is skilled in "internal controls," "professional standards," "securities," and "worksheets."
Associate auditors earn the best pay in the finance industry, where they command an average salary of $66,888. Staff accountant/auditors earn the highest pay from the professional industry, with an average salary of $63,211.When it comes to education, associate auditors tend to earn higher degree levels compared to staff accountant/auditors. In fact, they're 9.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Staff accountant/auditor vs. Auditor
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.
Types of staff accountant/auditor
Updated January 8, 2025
