Internal Auditor Jobs with Banks

Internal auditors work for a variety of companies, not just banks. The SEC (United States Securities and Exchange Commission) requires that all public companies disclose their financial information on a regular basis, through quarterly statements and an annual review. Internal auditors are accountants who specialize in examining a company’s financial records to make sure that annual reporting is correct, ethical, and meets all government regulations.

In addition, internal auditors may visit various departments within an organization to determine what – if any – risks the department is exposed to. Risks can take the form of exposure to fraud and theft.

Internal auditors are especially important to financial institutions, since they deal with money on a regular basis and are high risk companies. Internal auditors will not only audit a bank’s public accounting system, but also look at all aspects of a branch’s or department’s business practices and make recommendations for decreasing their risk exposure, or to improve their accounting standards or practices.

For example, an auditor may spend time at a specific, busy branch and see that an armored car picks up cash once a day. The auditor may recommend that the branch schedule a second armored car cash pick up to decrease the amount of cash being stored at the branch on a daily basis.

Most financial institutions have assessed their risks and developed policies to minimize them. It is the job of some internal auditors to make sure each department is following these policies for their own safety and well-being.

Auditors will also assess a department’s exposure to employee theft and fraud, again, comparing its practices to developed procedures. If a department is not following recommended best practices, it could be opening the door to employee theft and fraud.

With so much Internet banking and reliance on Web-based technologies, many financial institutions also have teams of auditors working to ensure that these technologies include safeguards that protect them from hackers, fraud, theft, and to ensure customers’ privacy is protected.

Another function auditors serve is to ensure that all investment, wealth management, and financial planning products and services are meeting federal regulations, as well as bank standards and policies.

A very large bank will have many-even hundreds – of auditors spread across several divisions, each responsible for a particular aspect of the bank’s business, such as technology, investments, operations, etc. Smaller banking institutions will have fewer divisions and a smaller team that needs to work across all of a bank’s business units.

The internal auditor must pay attention to all details of the department he or she is auditing. A small oversight in one area could lead to theft, fraud, or mismanagement of company or customer funds. Auditors often travel to various locations, especially if the bank has branches and offices across a state, region, or the country.

In JobMonkey’s guide to banking careers, we will focus on the most common internal audit positions across all financial institutions: internal auditors, internal audit managers and executives, and technical internal auditors.