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Accountant/Auditor

Academic programs / Undergraduate degrees / Career opportunities / Accountant/Auditor

Accountant/Auditor

Explore employment trends, required job duties and skills for this career. ASU offers a variety of degrees that can help you prepare for and meet your career goals. Visit ASU's Career and Professional Development Services to learn how to develop your career plan.

Potential job titles in this career
Accountant, Accounting Officer, Audit Partner, Auditor, Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Cost Accountant, Financial Auditor, General Accountant, Internal Auditor, Revenue Tax Specialist

* Additional schooling, certification, or degrees maybe be required for some of the potential careers that are listed.
What will I do?
  • 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.
  • Inspect account books and accounting systems for efficiency, effectiveness, and use of accepted accounting procedures to record transactions.
  • Supervise auditing of establishments, and determine scope of investigation required.
  • Confer with company officials about financial and regulatory matters.
  • Examine and evaluate financial and information systems, recommending controls to ensure system reliability and data integrity.
  • Inspect cash on hand, notes receivable and payable, negotiable securities, and canceled checks to confirm records are accurate.
  • Examine records and interview workers to ensure recording of transactions and compliance with laws and regulations.
  • Prepare, examine, or analyze accounting records, financial statements, or other financial reports to assess accuracy, completeness, and conformance to reporting and procedural standards.
  • In this career, it is important to know
    Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.

    English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.

    Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

    Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

    Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

    Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

    Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

    Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

    Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

    Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
    It's useful to be good at
    Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

    Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

    Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

    Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

    Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

    Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

    Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.

    Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

    Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

    Mathematical Reasoning - The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
    Employment trends
    Location Pay period 2025
    10% 25% Median% 75% 90%
    United States Hourly $26.93 $32.22 $40.23 $52.80 $69.27
    Yearly $56,020 $67,020 $83,680 $109,810 $144,090
    Arizona Hourly $26.65 $31.25 $38.45 $49.83 $61.97
    Yearly $55,430 $64,990 $79,970 $103,640 $128,890
    2025 Median%
    United States $40.23 Hourly $83,680 Yearly
    Arizona $38.45 Hourly $79,970 Yearly

    Employment (2024)
    1,579,800 employees
    Projected growth (2024 - 2034)
    Average (4% to 7%)
    Projected job openings (2024 - 2034)
    124,200
    * Data obtained from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) under sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Labor/Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA).

    Program term definitions

    Accelerated programs allow students the opportunity to expedite the completion of their degree.

    Accelerated master's

    These programs allow students to accelerate their studies to earn a bachelor's plus a master's degree in as few as five years (for some programs).

    Each program has requirements students must meet to be eligible for consideration. Students typically receive approval to pursue the accelerated master's during the junior year of their bachelor's degree program. Interested students can learn about eligibility requirements and how to apply.

    Concurrent degrees allow students to pursue their own personal or professional interests, earn two distinct degrees and receive two diplomas. To add a concurrent degree to your existing degree, work with your academic advisor.

    Joint programs, or jointly conferred degrees, are offered by more than one college and provide opportunities for students to take advantage of the academic strengths of two academic units. Upon graduation, students are awarded one degree and one diploma conferred by two colleges.

    ASU adds new programs to Degree Search frequently. Come back often and look for the "New Programs" option.

    ASU Online offers programs in an entirely online format with multiple enrollment sessions throughout the year. See https://asuonline.asu.edu/ for more information.

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