The auditor career
An auditor checks that an organisation's accounts and processes tell the truth, then draws recommendations from them: that, in a single sentence, is the essence of their career. The word crops up in job adverts without its content always being clear. Before choosing a programme, it is worth understanding this career: what does it look like, and how do you get into it?
In brief
An auditor checks that an organisation's accounts and processes reflect reality, then makes recommendations to make them more reliable or to improve them.
There are two main forms of audit: external audit, carried out from a firm for several clients, and internal audit, carried out from within a single company. A distinction worth knowing from the moment you choose your training pathway.
What is an auditor?
An auditor checks the reliability of an organisation's accounts, processes or systems, then certifies what they have verified. It is a role of general interest before it is a technical one, since this guarantee is what allows shareholders, employees and partners to trust an organisation. Their work results in an audit report, given to a management team that relies on it to make decisions.
The career covers three interlinked areas, which you will find in a Master of Science at Excelia Business School:
- Financial audit, which checks the accounts
- Strategic advisory, which draws recommendations from them
- Management control, which steers performance
What does an auditor do day to day?
You will move from one assignment to another rather than from one identical day to the next: each engagement requires you to understand an organisation before checking it, with regular back-and-forth with the teams being audited.
The career relies on a precise audit methodology and on analytical tools, such as business intelligence or the balanced scorecard. It is practised as part of a team and follows a strong seasonal pattern: activity intensifies in particular during year-end closing, in the tax period. Your internship at Excelia Business School will let you experience this professional rhythm.
Audit, management control, advisory: what are the differences?
Audit checks what has happened, management control steers what is coming: this is the most useful distinction before choosing your specialisation. An auditor establishes a past situation and certifies its reliability, while a management controller builds the indicators that inform a future decision. These two specialisms are often followed by a third, advisory, which in turn recommends a direction. Hence the frequent hesitation, among students, between these two Master of Science (MSc) programmes.
If this hesitation is yours, our Master of Science (MSc) programmes guidance questionnaire helps you choose between the two paths in a few minutes. Would you rather steer performance? You will find your place on the MSc in Management Control and Business Intelligence at Excelia Business School. Otherwise, the other finance careers that are hiring give you an overview.
Do you need to be a chartered accountant to become an auditor?
No: chartered accountancy is one possible next step, not a prerequisite. A Bac+5 management qualification gives you direct access to the career, without the long chartered accountancy pathway.
The roles you can access go well beyond external and internal audit: management controller, consultant, or chartered accountancy later if you wish.
Excelia Business School is also the leading partner in France of the ACPAI (Association of Certified Public Accountants International), which gives you access, without any additional exam, to the certified internal auditor, certified information systems auditor and certified management controller certifications.
What does an auditor's salary depend on?
Your pay depends first on who employs you: a firm, a company with an internal audit function and an advisory practice do not pay an auditor in the same way. The size of the organisation matters just as much: large firms apply structured pay scales, small ones negotiate case by case. The specialism chosen also counts: financial audit, information systems, management control.
What the whole career shares is a reputation for fast progression from the very first years: you take responsibility for complex assignments earlier than elsewhere, which explains why many Excelia Business School graduates choose audit as a starting point for their career.
According to the APEC (Association Pour l'Emploi des Cadres), 80% of job offers for this career range from €32,000 to €55,000 a year, with an average of €42,000.
What pathway leads to a career as an auditor?
This career is practised from a Bac+5 level qualification, and several paths lead to it from the baccalaureate: you could, for example, start with a Bachelor before specialising. The most direct path remains the MSc in Audit, Advisory and Control at Excelia Business School, State-accredited and leading to a Grade de Master, accessible with a Bac+3 or a Bac+4 (your qualification determines your year of entry). The exact terms are set out on the programme page.
This programme gives you the tools and methods of the career:
- An audit methodology
- Business intelligence and the balanced scorecard
- An internship during the tax period
- A hackathon
- Talks led by professionals
- Employability support from the Talent Centre
Once you graduate, you will practise this career in France and internationally.
Excelia Business School also holds a quadruple accreditation EQUIS, AACSB, AMBA and EFMD Master, shared by fewer than 1% of business schools worldwide: a recognition that matters in a career where professional credibility counts as much as technical skill. If your plans remain open, the Finance MSc programmes give you an overview.
Discover the MSc in Audit, Advisory and Control
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between an internal auditor and an external auditor?
If you become an external auditor, you work from a firm, for several successive clients; if you become an internal auditor, you work within a single organisation, whose processes you know continuously. Same career, different rhythms.
- Do you need to be a chartered accountant to become an auditor?
Chartered accountancy is one possible next step for an auditor, not a prerequisite: a Master of Science in audit, such as the one at Excelia Business School, prepares you for it directly, and its partnership with the ACPAI also gives you access to additional certifications, without any additional exam.
- Does an auditor only work with figures?
An auditor also checks processes and systems, not just accounts, using an audit methodology and tools such as business intelligence. You will practise this career in France and internationally, in direct contact with the teams being audited.
- What professional certifications exist in audit?
Excelia Business School's partnership with the ACPAI gives access, without any additional exam, to the certified internal auditor, certified information systems auditor and certified management controller certifications. They add to your qualification, without replacing hands-on experience.
- Does audit necessarily lead to a career in a firm?
No: the roles accessible after this programme also include management control, advisory or chartered accountancy, in a firm as much as in a company. The same qualification can open either path depending on your career choices.
