Audit Supervisor 

(Female, Age 38) from Waltham, MA

This is a REAL-LIFE job profile written by a Female aged 38 who works as a Audit Supervisor in Waltham, MA. We have removed all names and personal information in order to protect privacy. This professional kindly spent a bit of their time to complete one of our job profile surveys so that prospective job seekers like you could read their insights. Please excuse any punctuation or grammatical errors in this profile.

At a Glance

Current Job

Basic data on your current job

Job Title Audit Supervisor
Salary $50,000
Other Compensation None Set
Hours/Week 30
Company Size (not answered)
Location Waltham, MA
Years Experience 16 years

Career Ratings

Opinions on your CAREER overall (i.e. not just your current job)

Years in Career 0
Education (not answered)
Income Rating 0 / 10
Interest Rating 0 / 10
Work-Life Rating 0 / 10
Fulfilment Rating 0 / 10

Current job Q&A

Describe the type of organization you work for.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts State Auditor’s Office employs around 400 employees. Audits all state entities, courts, state agencies, schools.

Describe your job role and responsibilities.
Supervise auditors on the job. Give them tasks to complete as well as writing the audit program, conduct testing of different areas of the agency. Report to an Audit Manager.

Please list an additional benefits (beyond compensation) that you receive.
four weeks vacation, 1.25 sick days a month, pay 20 percent of health insurance, deferred compensation, health care spending account, dependent care spending account.

Do you feel you are under/over or well/fairly compensated at your current position?
under

Does your job entail you working with others on a daily basis? Is this something you like/dislike about your job? Please explain.
Yes, I work with both my colleagues, and the employees of the agency that I am auditing. I do like the change of meeting new people all the time.

Do you work collaboratively with supervisors/managers?
Yes

Do you work collaboratively with your co-workers?
Yes

Describe your work location (e.g., office, home, theatre, in the field) and what you like/dislike about working in it.

Please rate each of the following aspects of your current job on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest/best):
Income: 2
Benefits: 4
Hours: 1
Co-Workers: 6
Supervisors: 3
Job Title: 8
Level of Responsibility: 5
The Actual Work: 7

A day in the life of…

Please describe a typical workday for you in your current job:

5am to 6am
6am to 7am
7am to 8am
8am to 9am Arrive at the job site. Meet with personnel to discuss upcoming audit. Request space to conduct audit for the next few weeks (or months depending).
9am to 10am Get situated in space. Request background information from auditee, for example organization chart, any applicable laws and regulations that they may have to folloow. Set up meetings with key personnel for the upcoming days to get idea of what each unit does.
10am to 11am Speak with audit staff as to what section of the audit program they will be responsible for. Go over the section with them and answer any questions they may have. Give them copies of other workpapers that may help them complete their tasks.
11am to 12pm Start to look over the part of the audit program that I am to complete. Fill out any preliminary audit paperwork about the entrance conference conducted earlier.
12pm to 1pm Lunch
1pm to 2pm Continue to review the audit program. Ask auditee for all of the necessary backup documentation necessary to begin our review. In order to conduct the audit, review all of the expenditures, and receipts to ensure they are all legitimate and complete. Speak to manager on an ongoing basis to make sure the audit is running smoothly. Make sure staff is on track as well.
2pm to 3pm More audit testing of the selected sample of expenditures or receipts. Sometime this is a slow and steady process. Sometimes all of the documentation is not provided, and another meeting is necessary with the key personnel in charge.
3pm to 4pm Make any copies necessary of problem areas found during the testing process. This information will be needed for any potential findings, or problems at the end of the audit when an audit report is written about the agency.
4pm to 5pm Continue to work on the particular are of the program until it is complete.
5pm to 6pm
6pm to 7pm
7pm to 8pm
8pm to 9pm
9pm to 10pm
10pm to 11pm
11pm to 12am

Table of Contents

How you got your job

How did you get your current job?
Referral from a friend.

What was the application process?
submitted resume, paper application and job interview with two people

Did you have to interview for your current job? If yes, what did the interview process entail?
Yes. I had two separate interviews with two different members of management. I had to speak about my education and what my strenghts and weaknesses were.

If you can remember, what questions were you asked during the interview?
I can’t remember all of the questions.

Do you feel your employer properly prepared you for your job? Explain.
Yes. A lot is on the job training and I had great supervisors when I first started my job.

Was there training for your current position? If yes, what did it entail?
Yes. I attended a four year college and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting.

Do you feel your educational background prepared you for your job? Explain.
Yes. The coursework I had in school did prepare me for the actual job. Although things are different in the “real world” I at least had a feel for some of the situations that came up on the job.

If applicable, do you feel your internship experience helped you prepare for your job?
No internship experience.

If someone wanted to go about getting a job similar to yours, what would you recommend for him or her to do?
Attend a four year college or university and major in either business or accounting.

What skills do you think a person should have if they want to pursue a position like yours?
Great social skills, as well as having thick skin. An auditor is not someone or a business likes to see, so you need to be able to brush off the feelings. It isn’t personal. Organizational skills are a must, you also must be able to delegate duties and make sure you are a good communicator to both the auditee and your staff. Computer skills are a must. Excel, word, and any auditing software companies might use.

Do you feel that you need a certain level of education or training to be successful in your job?
Yes, a Bachelor’s Degree

What advice would you give to someone who was about to start work in your position/ line of work?
Have a good attitude, always be willing to learn new things, as the accounting profession is always changing. Flexible with going to new places a lot of the time.

Long-term career plans

Is your current employment part of your overall career plan? Why or why not?
Yes. I went to school to have a job in accounting, and this job has growth and a lot of potential to move up the corporate ladder.

What are your current career goals?
I would like to advance to the next level of Manager at my office.

Is there anything else you would like to share about your career?

Educational background

Please list your educational background:

High School GPA:3

GPA School Degree
College (Undergraduate)
or Technical/Vocational
3.1 St. Mary’s of CA Accounting Bachelor of Science
Graduate or Professional
(Masters or Doctorate)

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