Originally published by Cindy Fornelli on LinkedIn: Careers in Auditing: Let's Squash the Confusion
What does a career in public company auditing mean?
At the Center for Audit Quality, we've done surveying recently around this question, asking people for their impressions of what auditors do. Misperceptions lurk, I'm afraid. For example, too many people assume that public company auditing has something to do with tax collection. Others even think it involves hearing or audiences, given the similarity to "auditorium."
These perceptions are a long way from the truth, which is that public company auditors conduct systematic examinations of publicly held companies' accounting, transaction records, and other relevant documents to check whether their financial statements are fairly presented and free from material misstatements. In an economy where millions of investors turn to the stock market (now valued around $25 trillion in the United States) to save for retirement and other life goals, that's a pretty important job.
The auditing profession is one that prizes continuous improvement, and one important way the profession can effect positive change is by clearing up any confusion around audit careers. We need to shed more light on what auditors do and on the fact that auditing can be a path to a dynamic and rewarding career.
How to accomplish that? For one, we can find new ways to show people what auditors do. We can also better illuminate the multiple and positive ways that careers in auditing can play out. The profession is doing both of these things now—let's take a closer look.
Showing What Auditors Do
By and large, many investors grasp that independent auditors play a valuable role in our economy and markets. Less clear for many, however, is what auditors actually do all day.
At the Center for Audit Quality, we decided to shed some light—with the help of smartphones and selfie sticks. First, we assembled a group of early career audit professionals and asked them to provide a glimpse into their world. What kinds of engagements are they working on? Whom do they interact with each day? Where do they work? How do they work? Next, addressing these questions, these professionals used their phones to record a few workday videos, as well as some glimpses into their day-to-day lives. We then compiled those clips and turned them into a longer montage. The video is worth watching—and sharing.
Showing Auditing's Paths and Possibilities
Beyond the day to day, we’re also taking a longer view, showing people the many ways that careers in auditing can unfold. We've compiled the stories of real people who have been in the profession for over 10 years. Where have their careers in auditing taken them? What have been their significant milestones, professionally and personally? We altered their names, for privacy's sake, but charted their exact paths, including salary ranges.