Accountants and Auditors

Also Called:

Accountant,

Auditor,

Certified Public Accountant (CPA),

Financial Auditor

What they do: Examine, analyze, and interpret accounting records to prepare financial statements, give advice, or audit and evaluate statements prepared by others. Install or advise on systems of recording costs or other financial and budgetary data.

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Finance

Career Cluster

What do they typically do on the job?

  • Prepare detailed reports on audit findings.
  • Report to management about asset utilization and audit results, and recommend changes in operations and financial activities.
  • Collect and analyze data to detect deficient controls, duplicated effort, extravagance, fraud, or non-compliance with laws, regulations, and management policies.

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include data, detail, and regular routines.

Attention to Detail

Integrity

Dependability

Analytical Thinking

Cooperation

Stress Tolerance

Interests

Career interests describe the perspectives and interests of people who enjoy the type of work involved in this career.

Discover what your interests are by taking the Interest Profiler Quiz

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Conventional

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Enterprising

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Investigative

Knowledge

People who want to pursue this career have knowledge in these areas.

Business

  • Accounting and economics

  • Customer service

Arts and Humanities

  • English language

Math and Science

  • Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics

Safety and Government

  • Law and government

Abilities

Whether you have received formal training or not, these types of abilities are helpful in this career.

Math

  • Add, subtract, multiply, or divide

  • Choose the right type of math to solve a problem

Verbal

  • Communicate by speaking

  • Read and understand what is written

Ideas and Logic

  • Use rules to solve problems

  • Notice when problems happen

Skills

People who want to pursue this career have skills in these areas.

Basic Skills

  • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions

  • Reading work related information

Problem Solving

  • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

People and Technology Systems

  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one

  • Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it

Work Values

Work values describe how your core beliefs align with those commonly needed for this career.

Achievement

Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.

Independence

Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.

Recognition

Occupations that satisfy this work value offer advancement, potential for leadership, and are often considered prestigious. Corresponding needs are Advancement, Authority, Recognition and Social Status.

Does this sound like something you'd like to do?

1. Do some research
  • Identify how your interests, values, and strengths match this occupation
  • Talk to someone who works in this field or spend a day job shadowing
  • Use the colleges and training directory to explore programs related to this career
2. Plan your next move

Data for NSI career cards comes from the following: Idaho Department of Labor, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, O*NET, MyNextMove, and Career OneStop