The Differences Between an Auditor & an Accountant
Auditors and accountants work in different areas of accounting. They may look the same, have similar education and work on same items, but their jobs are different. Accountants process financial information, while auditors typically review the accountants' work. Auditors can be internal, reviewing internal transactions of a firm, and external, working at CPA firms and government -- outsiders to a business they audit.
Other People Are Reading
-
Goals
-
Accountants and auditors have different goals. Accountants focus on current information, dealing with day-to-day issues, closing the books and making sure tasks such as paying bills are done properly. Auditors focus on existing accounting transactions and classifications, making sure they are reasonable and correct. Auditors also pay attention to internal controls -- they may test them and make recommendation about compliance with controls. Many small firms do not have internal auditors and rely on accountants alone to provided reliable financial information.
Reports
-
Both accountants and auditors issue reports. While auditors present management with reports on findings (discrepancies or errors found), accountants often issue reports on existing information, such as budget vs. actual reports and accounts receivable aging reports, showing client's names, amounts owed and for how long. Accountants prepare tax reports, grant or loan statements and other daily accounting reports. Auditors do not work on any of these.
-
Type of Work
-
Auditors often look at a firm as a whole and accountants look at the same firm with a more detailed approach. An auditor's perspective is on past data review, while an accountant focuses on the present. Accounting provides the source documentation and transactions for auditors to work on. For instance, accountants pay bills and record them in their books with the focus on accuracy and efficiency. Auditors may want to review the process, looking for internal controls compliance and workflows within the company that relate to paying bills.
Other Differences
-
An auditor's job usually involves working outside his own office, often requiring overnight travel. Accounting work is more sedentary, with most of the job performed in one place. The accounting area is usually more predictable, with schedules to pay bills, send out invoices, close the periods, run payroll, file taxes and release reports. The auditing work schedule is more flexible, allowing for special projects requested by upper management. For example, an executive may request auditors to take a look at payments to a sales department because of too many errors in that area.
-
