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ANZSCO 2212Skill level 1Business and finance

Auditor

Examine financial records and internal controls to provide independent assurance to investors and regulators.

Registration: Registered Company Auditor (RCA) for statutory work

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Salary

Cited figures from Job Outlook and QILT. ExamExplained does not publish predictive earnings or projections.

FigureAUDSource
Full-time weekly earnings$2000Job Outlook (2025-06-01)
Graduate starting salary$68,000QILT (2025-03-01)

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What a auditor actually does

External auditors typically work in client teams, rotating across several audits a year. A day during fieldwork is mostly on the client's site or inside their accounting systems: testing samples of transactions, walking through controls with the client's finance team, and documenting the results in the firm's audit software. Off-fieldwork days are spent planning upcoming audits, drafting management letters, and clearing review notes from a senior or manager. Internal auditors inside government or large corporates work in similar cycles but across the one organisation. Hours sit at 38-45 in normal periods but stretch to 55-70 a week from May through August (June year-ends) and again at half-year cycles. Travel to client sites - including regional and interstate sites - is common, especially in the first three years.

Typical tasks

  • Plan and execute risk-based audits.
  • Test internal controls and substantive balances.
  • Draft management reports and audit opinions.

Skills you'll use

  • Risk-based audit planning under ASA 315 and related standards
  • Internal-controls testing and sampling
  • Data analytics using Excel, ACL, IDEA or similar tools
  • Reading AASB and IFRS accounting standards
  • Writing clear management letters and audit memos
  • Pushing back politely on a client who's giving you bad answers
  • Time-budget management across multiple jobs

How to become one

  1. 1Finish Year 12 with English plus Maths Advanced or Methods
  2. 2Complete a 3-year accredited Bachelor of Commerce or Bachelor of Accounting (audit major or accounting major)
  3. 3Join an external audit graduate programme at a Big Four, mid-tier, or government auditor (most recruit a year before graduation)
  4. 4Enrol in the CA Program (CA ANZ) or CPA Program (CPA Australia); CA is more common in audit
  5. 5Complete the required mentored audit experience hours (typically 3 years for CA) and pass the technical and capstone exams
  6. 6Apply for Registered Company Auditor (RCA) registration with ASIC if you want to sign statutory audit reports as a partner

Where you can work

  • Big-four firms and mid-tier audit practices
  • Australian National Audit Office and state Auditors-General
  • Internal audit teams in ASX-listed corporates and banks
  • APRA, ASIC and other regulator audit functions
  • Federal and state government audit and risk teams
  • Not-for-profit and public-benevolent institution boards

Career progression

Typical stages and salary bands. Salary figures are sourced from Job Outlook, QILT or industry bodies; brackets are 25th-75th percentile not absolute floors or ceilings.

  1. Graduate
    0-2 years
    Typical roles: Audit graduate, Assurance analyst
    Salary band: $60,000 - $72,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
  2. Senior auditor
    3-5 years
    Typical roles: Senior auditor, Internal audit senior
    Salary band: $85,000 - $115,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
  3. Audit manager
    6-9 years
    Typical roles: Audit manager, Internal audit manager
    Salary band: $130,000 - $170,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
  4. Director or Partner
    12+ years
    Typical roles: Audit director, Audit partner, Head of internal audit

Is this for you?

You might love this if

  • You like sceptically testing whether something is actually true
  • You're comfortable asking the same question politely until you get a real answer
  • You can document your work so a stranger can follow your trail
  • You're willing to travel and switch clients several times a year
  • You're patient with multi-year exam programmes alongside full-time work

This might not suit you if

  • You want to make the strategic call rather than verify someone else's
  • You hate documentation and paper trails
  • You want fully remote work with no client-site visits
  • You can't keep professional independence from people you spend a lot of time with

Three ways in

Uni, TAFE and trade routes for auditor. Not every career has all three; we only list pathways that actually lead to this occupation.

University

Bachelor degrees that lead to this career.

TAFE / VET

Nationally accredited Certificate and Diploma qualifications.

No direct TAFE pathway to this career.

Apprenticeship trade

Earn while you learn through an Australian Apprenticeship.

Not an apprenticeship trade.

Sources

ExamExplained does not publish predictive salary figures. For current Australian earnings data check Job Outlook directly. Career classifications follow the ABS ANZSCO 2022 release.