| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | CA and Consulting |
| Level | Mid level |
| Reports to | Audit Manager |
| Direct reports | Audit Associate, CA Article Assistant |
| Experience | 2 to 4 years in audit, including leading fieldwork |
Audit Senior job description template
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Job title: Audit Senior
Department: CA and Consulting
Reports to: Audit Manager
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
An Audit Senior leads the fieldwork on an audit engagement. They run the team of associates and articles on site, execute the harder sections themselves, prepare the financial statements, and give the file a first review before it reaches the manager. The role is the link between the audit plan and the working papers, and the person the client's finance team deals with day to day. A good Audit Senior finishes fieldwork on time with a clean file, coaches the juniors as the work happens, and brings the manager issues that are already half solved.
Key responsibilities
- Lead the fieldwork for an engagement, allocate sections to associates and articles, and set the pace for the week.
- Execute the complex and high risk audit sections personally, including estimates, related parties and revenue.
- Review the working papers prepared by associates and articles, and clear or escalate review points.
- Prepare the draft financial statements and the notes, and tie them to the working papers.
- Handle the client's finance team on site: request data, resolve queries and keep the audit moving.
- Perform analytical review on the financials and investigate the movements that do not make sense.
- Track fieldwork progress against the plan and flag delays and scope issues to the manager early.
- Coach associates and articles on procedures, documentation and audit thinking as the work happens.
- Compile the file for manager review, with open points listed and evidence in place.
- Draft the management letter points on control weaknesses found during the audit.
Requirements
- Chartered Accountant, or CA Inter with strong articleship experience
- Sound knowledge of the applicable reporting framework
- Progress in the CA course is an advantage for non qualified seniors
- 2 to 4 years in audit, including leading fieldwork
KRAs and KPIs for a Audit Senior
Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.
| Key result area | How to measure it |
|---|---|
| Fieldwork completion | Fieldwork closed within the planned days on at least 90 percent of engagements |
| File readiness | File handed to the manager with review points minimised and evidence complete |
| Risk section quality | High risk areas tested and documented to withstand manager and peer review |
| Client handling | Data requests and queries closed with the client within the agreed turnaround |
| Junior development | Associates and articles coached, with rated feedback each engagement |
| Financial statements | Draft financials prepared accurately and tied to the file before manager review |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: Audit software, Tally Prime, MS Excel, CaseWare or similar tools, Income tax and MCA portals.
Reporting line and career path
Next roles: Audit Manager, Deputy Manager, Internal Audit Lead
Interview questions for a Audit Senior
- How do you plan the fieldwork week for a team of three on a new client?
- Which sections do you keep for yourself rather than give to an associate, and why?
- How do you audit revenue recognition for a company with long term contracts?
- An associate's working paper reaches the wrong conclusion. How do you handle the review?
- The client is slow with data and the deadline is near. What do you do?
- Walk me through how you tie the draft financial statements back to your file.
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What does an audit senior do?
An audit senior leads the fieldwork on an engagement. They run the associates and articles on site, do the harder sections such as revenue and estimates themselves, prepare the draft financial statements and give the file a first review before it goes to the manager. They also handle the client's finance team day to day during the audit.
What is the difference between an audit senior and an audit manager?
An audit senior leads the fieldwork and prepares and first reviews the file. An audit manager owns the whole engagement: the plan, the budget, the client relationship and the final review to the partner. The senior works mostly on site inside one engagement; the manager runs several engagements and answers for each result.
How do you become an audit senior?
Most audit seniors have two to four years in audit, often as an associate or through a CA articleship, and are either qualified chartered accountants or strong semi qualified staff. Firms promote those who can lead fieldwork, test the risky sections, prepare financial statements and coach juniors while keeping the file to review standard.