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What does a staff auditor do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
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.

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Staff auditor responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real staff auditor resumes:

  • 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.
  • Help the auditor to make reports which confirm with the company standards, corporate policies, acknowledge by the ISO standards.
  • Perform testing over inventory, fix assets, investments, A/R, A/P, revenues and expenses accordance with GAAP standards.
  • Specialize in compilation clients using QuickBooks software.
  • Complete all work requirements for California CPA certification.
  • Create reconciliations to identify discrepancies in clients' financial statements and accounts.
  • Coordinate with SOX business process owners, ensuring documentation requests satisfy to meet sox-requir deadlines.
  • Evaluate the design, implementation, and operating effectiveness of company internal controls including Sarbanes-Oxley.
  • Audit of small businesses, returns preparation, compilations, securities accounting, review payroll quarterly returns preparation
  • Scan bank statement daily balance and investigate unusually low or negative balances, ensuring compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley experience.

Staff auditor skills and personality traits

We calculated that 12% of Staff Auditors are proficient in Audit Procedures, CPA, and Internal Audit. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Detail oriented.

We break down the percentage of Staff Auditors that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Audit Procedures, 12%

    Planned and conducted audit procedures to verify accuracy and validity of client financial matters; identify areas of risk and improvement.

  • CPA, 12%

    Completed all work requirements for California CPA certification.

  • Internal Audit, 7%

    Managed internal audit activities, including the effect planning and execution of compliance financial and operational audits of business operations.

  • Audit Reports, 5%

    Drafted client financial statements and audit reports through WordPerfect software for both financial statement opinion engagements and employee benefit engagements.

  • Audit Findings, 5%

    Communicated audit findings to Senior Business Leaders while collaborating with them to offer realistic solutions to mitigate the identified risks.

  • Compliance Audits, 4%

    Execute operational and compliance audits in accordance with company policies, legal requirements, and accepted professional standards.

Most staff auditors use their skills in "audit procedures," "cpa," and "internal audit" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential staff auditor responsibilities here:

Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform staff auditor duties is communication skills. Staff auditors responsibilities require that "accountants and auditors must be able to listen to and discuss facts and concerns from clients, managers, and other stakeholders." Staff auditors also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "identified internal control weaknesses for communication to client management. "

Detail oriented. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of staff auditors is detail oriented. This skill is critical to many everyday staff auditor duties, as "accountants and auditors must pay attention to detail when compiling and examining documents." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "prepared and used financial reports: trial balance, account summary, account detail and reconciliation reports. "

Math skills. For certain staff auditor responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "math skills." The day-to-day duties of a staff 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 auditors do: "performed quantitative and qualitative analysis of income statement, balance sheet, industry trends, budgeted forecasts, and related ratios. "

Organizational skills. Another crucial skill for a staff auditor to carry out their responsibilities is "organizational skills." A big part of what staff auditors relies on this skill, since "strong organizational skills are important for accountants and auditors, who often work with a range of financial documents for a variety of clients." How this skill relates to staff auditor duties can be seen in an example from a staff auditor resume snippet: "performed audits and supervised field audit engagements in accordance with organizational policies and procedures. "

See the full list of staff auditor skills

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Compare different staff auditors

Staff auditor vs. Corporate accountant

A corporate accountant is an individual who prepares financial statements and maintains financial records of an organization to ensure that they comply with laws, regulations, and the organization's policies. Corporate accountants are required to analyze financial statements to help executives make financial decisions for the organization. They must collect ledgers and financial reports from divisional offices and prepare corporate financial statements for executives. Corporate accountants must also prepare budgets to allocate funds for spending for each department.

We looked at the average staff auditor salary and compared it with the wages of a corporate accountant. Generally speaking, corporate accountants are paid $8,869 higher than staff auditors per year.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both staff auditor and corporate accountant positions are skilled in cpa, internal audit, and sox.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between staff auditors and corporate accountant. For instance, staff auditor responsibilities require skills such as "audit procedures," "audit reports," "audit findings," and "compliance audits." Whereas a corporate accountant is skilled in "reconciliations," "gaap," "account reconciliations," and "general ledger accounts." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Corporate accountants tend to make the most money working in the finance industry, where they earn an average salary of $71,156. In contrast, staff auditors make the biggest average salary, $59,857, in the professional industry.corporate accountants tend to reach similar levels of education than staff auditors. In fact, corporate accountants are 0.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Staff auditor vs. General accountant

A general accountant is responsible for evaluating account statements, conducting data analysis with financial transactions, and generating reports on revenues, expenses, and sales forecasting. These accountants manage discrepancies on the company and clients' profiles, including bank reconciliations and processing of account receivables and payables. They also handle the release of invoices and petty cash, analyzing balance sheets, and updating accurate financial information on the database. A general accountant must have excellent analytical skills, as well as extensive knowledge of the accounting principles and disciplines.

General accountant positions earn lower pay than staff auditor roles. They earn a $388 lower salary than staff auditors per year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both staff auditors and general accountants have skills such as "cpa," "sox," and "financial reports. "

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, staff auditor responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "audit procedures," "internal audit," "audit reports," and "audit findings." Meanwhile, a general accountant has duties that require skills in areas such as "reconciliations," "cash handling," "vendor invoices," and "general ledger accounts." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

General accountants may earn a lower salary than staff auditors, but general accountants earn the most pay in the automotive industry with an average salary of $63,004. On the other hand, staff auditors receive higher pay in the professional industry, where they earn an average salary of $59,857.Average education levels between the two professions vary. General accountants tend to reach similar levels of education than staff auditors. In fact, they're 3.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Staff auditor vs. Accounting analyst

An accounting analyst is responsible for supporting the accounting operations of an organization, analyzing financial transactions and financial statements, and resolving account discrepancies. Accounting analysts interpret financial data by consolidating account transactions, performing account reconciliation, and managing account receivables. They also assist in preparing and releasing invoices, issuing billing statements, and creating comprehensive financial reports on the company's budget and expenses. An accounting analyst must have excellent knowledge of the accounting principles and disciplines, as well as extensive analytical and communication skills to perform duties and meet deadlines under minimal supervision.

An average accounting analyst eans a higher salary compared to the average salary of staff auditors. The difference in salaries amounts to accounting analysts earning a $2,968 higher average salary than staff auditors.By looking over several staff auditors and accounting analysts resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "internal audit," "sox," and "sarbanes-oxley." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from staff auditor resumes include skills like "audit procedures," "cpa," "audit reports," and "audit findings," whereas an accounting analyst is more likely to list skills in "reconciliations," "customer service," "account reconciliations," and "gaap. "

Accounting analysts earn the best pay in the finance industry, where they command an average salary of $66,550. Staff auditors earn the highest pay from the professional industry, with an average salary of $59,857.When it comes to education, accounting analysts tend to earn similar degree levels compared to staff auditors. In fact, they're 2.2% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Staff auditor vs. Tax analyst

A tax analyst specializes in managing and filing tax forms and tax returns, all while devising strategies to reduce tax payments legally. A tax analyst may work as a member of a company or independently. Moreover, in a company setting, the responsibilities of a tax analyst revolve around coordinating with different departments to obtain all necessary documentation and financial information, maintaining accurate and extensive records of all transactions, and resolving any issues or concerns. Furthermore, it is essential to remain updated with all the tax laws, all while adhering to the policies and regulations of the company.

Tax analysts average a higher salary than the annual salary of staff auditors. The difference is about $6,314 per year.While both staff auditors and tax analysts complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like sox, excellent interpersonal, and strong analytical, the two careers vary in some skills.Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. A staff auditor uses "audit procedures," "cpa," "internal audit," and "audit reports." Tax analysts are more likely to have duties that require skills in "tax audits," "reconciliations," "tax compliance," and "tax payments. "tax analysts enjoy the best pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $79,702. For comparison, staff auditors earn the highest salary in the professional industry.tax analysts reach similar levels of education compared to staff auditors, in general. The difference is that they're 0.9% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.9% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of staff auditor

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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