Today, students can choose from millions of careers that offer great salaries, but there are few that offer many opportunities for advancement and additional pay with experience. Auditing is one career where you can have a direct hand in the dealings of many companies, and your work can often help save a company millions simply by catching a mistake or theft. While few big-budget movies glorify the career of an accountant, this is one of the most dynamic and interesting careers you can possibly choose for yourself.
Responsibilities
Auditing is a complex career, and you will have many different responsibilities on your plate throughout a given work day. Many auditors take this as a challenge. Auditing is a process involving the review, analysis, and evaluation of products, systems, services, processes, organisations, and employees. Additionally, auditors are responsible for the validity, accuracy, reliability, verifiability, and timeliness of organisational information, as well as the processes and sources through which that information is created.
When you get audit jobs in Malaysia, it is important to understand how critical your role is within the company, because external parties and management receive assessments of the organisation through your stewardship. Auditors also inspect the internal controls of an organisation and the extent to which these controls manage the organisation’s exposure to risk. Internal controls work to prevent theft of assets and, if properly executed, prevent data manipulation by the hand of the employees.
Finally, auditors ensure that checks are in place to help retain the overall effectiveness of financial and operational reporting. You will also be responsible for making sure that controls are in place to protect the assets of the organisation at all times. You are thus a very important person working in the background, checking numbers, actions, assets, and risks to ensure that the organisation is protected from loss, theft, and more.
Personality
The personality of an auditor should include a strong ethical framework and a willingness to report issues, or anticipated issues, as they are discovered. There may be a temptation to “let it go,” as further investigation may reveal embarrassing processes or performance, or even fraud. It is thus a good thing to strongly believe that nothing should be overlooked so long as you are responsible for the protection of your company.
Good communication skills allow auditors to remain effective by keeping lines of communication open and clear. You must be able to build rapport with a wide range of employees, directors, managers, and external parties. Remember that these relationships should not interfere with the objectives of the audit, such as the reliability, accuracy, timeliness, and verifiability of information.
It is not common for a company to employ just one auditor, and you must be good at working with a team to ensure optimum results. The scope of an audit can quickly grow complex and large, and it is beneficial to help in other areas of an audit when resource constraints require it. The more you do for yourself right now, the more likely you are to see better results later on, especially because you cannot afford to make any mistakes in this type of position.
