Audit Jobs

[careerchangeneeded]

Does anyone work in audit, specifically within the healthcare industry who could tell me a bit about how to get into it? I am currently working in finance but looking to change industries in the next couple of years and wanted to know how feasible it is to get an audit role in a specific sector.

Could anyone offer any advice on how to do this? Are there any industry-specific qualifications I should look to do in my own time? There are lots of courses available but not sure which ones are worth the cost and if they are recognised.

I know most large companies would have their own internal audit teams but not sure whether to try that or try to work for an audit-specific company (that would audit hospitals, etc.) - does anyone have any experience of this?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

I work for a larger accountancy firm who audit pharmaceuticals and also nhs boards etc. Although typically people have to do a wider range ( eg all government and public sector or all manufacturing) rather than just healthcare. Why does healthcare specifically interest you?

I would recommend traditional accountancy exams for internal audit in the nhs or other organisations.

Lots of public sector organisations now outsource internal audit to accountancy firms.

Happy if you want to PM me as I used to work in nhs internal audit

I also work for a large audit firm, although we don’t focus on your chosen sector. I think you need to consider if you would like to look at internal or external audit, they are different.

Also, look at what qualification options are open to you. Do you meet the entry criteria. I’m a Chartered accountant, but there are also Certified Chartered accountants and internal auditors too

Thank you for the responses!

@LouiseTrees to be honest any industry outside of finance interests me so it is useful to know that accountancy Companies audit a range of industries. I think I’d be worried to get a job somewhere and be told I have to audit banks, so I guess I’d have to look for companies that specialise in other places. I feel like I want a job ‘helping people’ but unfortunately most of the types of jobs that interest me would mean taking a big pay cut and weirdly I don’t want to work directly with people! So healthcare interests me as it helps more people than my current position in financial services does! But I’m not welded to it.

@jamiedoger thank you, I will definitely do that! I think I do like the idea of working specifically for an audit organisation as you say a lot gets outsourced but interesting you worked for nhs IA... I will pm you after I’ve done some more research

@AuditAngel anything but financial services would be fine for me I think, I just want a change of scenery as have worked for my current employer for over 10 years now. I think I want to get some experience of internal audit within my current company to increase my chances if I was to leave and try and get a job at an actual auditors if you see what I mean. Any qualifications would be self-funded (I’m actually not in the uk at the moment and not due to return until next year so thought i could look to do some quals now in my own time). I will look at the differences between internal and external audits as well

There is an institute of internal auditors,I know very little about them, but my boss holds their qualification.

AAT is a good starting point if you don’t have relevant degree level qualifications. Alternatively, if you have a relevant degree, you can start studying ACCA without a training contract.

Thank you @AuditAngel I’m definitely going to check out the qualifications and have a meeting booked with a supervisor who can tell me if I can do them via my current role. Hopefully il start to get a sense of which direction I want to go in soon

I am currently working in finance but looking to change industries in the next couple of years

to be honest any industry outside of finance interests me

I don’t get this. Internal audit is a finance job. Do you mean that you work in financial services now, rather than in finance? As in, you don’t have any finance or accounting qualifications?

As PPs have said, lots of NHS bodies now outsource internal audit. You don’t say how old you are but unless you have a good degree, getting into a top ten firm on a training contract might be a tall order. Any decent sized business, including NHS bodies, outsourcing internal audit is going to go to a big firm. Direct recruitment into in-house internal audit teams is usually from the bigger accountancy firms too.

Your best bet is to try to get into internal audit at your current employer, and hope that they support you through an accounting qualification. Even if you are sick of financial services.

What you need to remember is that internal audit isn’t necessarily a ‘helping people’ role, and it can be quite fraught. People dread a visit from internal audit because it can be seen as nitpicking by colleagues trying to catch you out. So if walking through processes and checking that they are adequately documented etc fits your definition of helping people, it might work out ok. However, as others note, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to pick and choose which organisations you work with if you go into a professional firm.

Hi @Iamthewombat thank you for your reply, sorry been a hectic week!

Yeah sorry if I wasn’t clear, I currently work for a bank and have the option to work for our internal audit team and do qualifications which I will probably look to do.

The audits I am currently involved in are both the financial statement audits and the audits of our operations areas. So when you say IA is a finance job, I know what you mean but I think I am looking for more of an ‘operations audit’ if such a thing exists (not sure if it does). So, things like ensuring procedures and controls are being followed. Where I work, the finance audit and this ‘operations audit’ are separate and it is the same with our external audits too (done by one of the big 4 accountancy firms) - there is a distinct financial statements audit team and one who audit our controls.

When I say I want a job helping people, my ideal jobs would be something like a speech and language therapist, a nurse, A domestic abuse worker etc. I’m just not in a position at the moment to leave my current job and retrain starting at the bottom of a different industry and I hate to say it but a big drop in wages.

So if I could be an auditor and audit an industry that wasn’t financial services I’d be happy with that. I’d rather audit a hospital or a school to ensure procedures and controls are being followed... I just don’t know if that kind of role exists!