General Information Regarding the Occupation of an Auditor
An auditor is an individual who has an important role regarding the financial well-being of a company or corporation. This individual will perform a wide variety of duties and tasks related to the financial standing of an entity.
The auditor will work with various companies and corporations to assure financial compliance as well. The following will provide an overview as to the general responsibilities and specific duties of which an auditor must undertake in his job. Although these are not all of the tasks which every auditor must complete in their daily job role, they are some of the more frequently accomplished ones.
What Is An Auditor?
It is important to first discuss what in fact an auditor is and the role that they play. An auditor is an individual who will analyze accounting records through strict examination thereof in order to determine the current financial status of a company or corporation. After doing so, the auditor must then prepare the necessary reports which state the findings about the financial status of the entity.
General Responsibilities of an Auditor
The general responsibilities of an auditor all relate to ensuring financial compliance. The auditor will collect and examine financial records to ensure that they are current and to make sure that the entities abide by pertinent laws and regulations with regard to their finances. The auditor will also interview employees and managers of companies and corporations to determine that their statements match up with the financial records of the company. In addition, the auditor is responsible for preparing reports relating to their findings with regard to the financial stability of the company and proper accounting procedures. The auditor will also answer any questions directed towards them with regard to their findings.
Specific Duties of an Auditor
Under the general responsibilities listed above, the auditor will have further specific duties which their job entails them to complete on a daily basis. These specific duties will vary from auditor to auditor however many individuals with this job will perform some if not all of the specific duties listed below.
One specific duty of an auditor in their daily job routines is to examine company financial records. In doing so, the auditor will be looking to ensure that the company is abiding by laws and regulations, keeping their books in order, checking into insurance and unemployment coverage, examine tax documents and determine if the objectives of the company are being actively pursued. These are just some of the many examinations which take place by the auditor.
The auditor will also interview employees and supervisors of the company. The reason for doing so is to ensure that the company’s goals are being realized, the employees and supervisors are accurately filling out financial information and determine that regulatory requirements are being met. By interviewing these individuals, the auditor can fill in the blanks to determine what is missing in the financial records themselves.
An auditor is also responsible for completing numerous financial reports and charts. These reports and charts will detail the findings by the auditor and put the results in a nice neat package for interested parties in the audit to review. The reports which will need to be completed vary from entity to entity but the auditor certainly has their work cut out for them with regard to recording findings.
The auditor will also need to address any issues regarding the findings that they discovered during their audit. These issues will be discussed by the auditor and numerous parties involved in the audit process such as superiors of the company. The auditor will need to detail anything not included with the charts and paperwork as well as answer further questions relating to the findings.
Beneficial Traits for an Auditor to Possess
An auditor has a very important role to fill in their profession. They must possess certain traits in order to do their jobs to the best of their ability. Having these traits will allow them to pursue financial answers while investigating companies and corporations trying to uncover such answers.
One trait which all auditors should possess is preciseness. An auditor must go over financial documents with a fine toothcomb and the results that they pull up must be of such a condition that they are as exact as can be. An auditor cannot be lazy in their job role as a few wrong numbers can throw the whole financial accuracy of the audit off. Therefore, preciseness is an important trait for auditors to possess.
Auditors should also be hard workers. Since they will have to look through voluminous amounts of financial documents and paperwork, they must pursue it with a hard working attitude. This will enable them to do the job the best that they can. An individual who is lackadaisical in their mannerisms will not be the best type of auditor.
An auditor should also have good mathematical skills. As one who completes audits will need to delve into many different tasks involving numbers and finance, it is important to have somewhat of a mathematical mind. This will make the job of the auditor much easier if they are used to dealing with numbers and financial equations.
Good interviewing techniques are also a plus with regard to beneficial traits which auditors should possess. Since individuals in this profession will need to interview a variety of different people during their audits, they should have necessary interviewing skills which will make the interviews go that much more smoothly. One who has good people skills and relates well to others will also have adequate interviewing skills.
Auditors should also be focused in nature. Since tasks such as these are time consuming and involved, one who can focus on the task at hand will be the best auditor possible. They will be able to concentrate well and complete each task which comes their way to their fullest potential.
Conclusion
An auditor has an important job filled with many different in-depth tasks. In order to complete these tasks as efficiently as possible, the auditor should possess traits such as preciseness, a focused nature, and be hard workers. By having these traits, one who is in the role of an auditor will be able to be the best that they possibly can be in their profession. If one is interested in pursuing multiple tasks and duties in a financial capacity, then becoming an auditor might be a beneficial thing to do.
