[se7en.14]

Hi,

Has anyone worked at a law firm doing internal auditng? What was your experience like and is it different than at an acct firm?

Would it be more like compliance?

Thanks,

.

[Anonymous]

That is pretty niche, doubt anyone here has done that. Personally I did not find Audit very fulfilling and control work (aka what you'd be doing as an internal auditor) was one of the worst parts of public accounting –> and in general, that is the section that public accountant least enjoy. SO if you have other good options, not sure I would do that. Also, if you are going down the internal audit path, it would be better to do it at a Public company so that you get SOX experience and not at a professional services firm. Or even a private bank might be a good option just cause of how much regulation they have.

The last thing you want to do is join a company where the internal audit department is considered a joke, not taken seriously and not given the funding that it needs (which unfortunately is a pretty widespread problem) .

[Anonymous]

I can't even imagine why a law firm would need an internal auditor. If you go for internal audit, you should seek a large company that offers a rotational track. The good internal audit jobs are the ones that lead to far more interesting aspects of accounting/finance. You put a couple year in IA, and then move to FP&A or operations.

[fuzyfro89]

Internal audit is loosely defined as “control and operational auditing”. In many companies, the focus is to manage the SOX requirements, or the equivalent controls over financial reporting in a non-public company. In other companies, like my own, there is a separate group that manages SOX, so the focus is more on operational audits (strategy, mgmt reporting, products, real estate, basically anything else).

Every company is different (with a fair amount of overlap), but auditing a services company would have little transferable skills to some other major sectors. Could be great if you like the industry and would like to stay and grow, but if you find you don't love it, it's best to leave within a few years.

Ideally, we all know what our career goals are, but many (myself included) kind of go with the flow and try new things.

If you don't know what it's about, then that's what you should learn when applying and/or during an interview. That's the time for you to get the detail on what you're actually going to do!

[se7en.14]

This is one of the nation's top 50 law firms and is also very global company.

I would be at the HQ working on audits, including financial, operational and IT audits. The company services many different sectors, but mainly finance /corporate.

From what I've read and heard, I think I like the nature of auditing. I'm hoping to be able to travel for work, but not sure if it's part of the job.

My plan was to work here for a few years and then switch to an financial services company internal audit dept.

Do you think that it's possible?

.

[Author]

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