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Being an Auditor requires a skillset which is way beyond the technical competence. An auditor shall have certain natural and acquired skills to conduct an effective audit. Being an auditor requires someone to be highly professional and effective in using his knowledge and skills. In short an auditor shall be a perfect blend of technical and non-technical attributes. Auditing skillset may vary from individual to individual; however, certain competencies are expected from all auditors in order to be recognized as effective auditor.
The skills whether natural or acquired shall be blended completely into auditor’s behavior so that they appear to be a natural pattern of conduct. Various traits such as interpersonal skills, problem solving, communication, team work etc. can be learned through a combination of education, training, experience, and demonstration of personal traits.
Auditor competence is composed of several things, including:
- Education, training, and knowledge
- Work experience
- Audit skills
- Communication skills
- Personal traits
Education and Experience
A person having prerequisite educational qualification and experience may get trained on procedures and practices to conduct an audit by training institutes competent in imparting such knowledge. He then can associate himself with a team of auditors who have rich experience in conducting audits to get an on-job training. An auditor may gain the knowledge of comprehending the materials presented during an audit through a combination of work experience and training.
Apart from general educational qualifications, an auditor must keep himself updated with latest applicable national and international regulations. He must also train himself in various quality control tools, improvement tools and techniques. Various tools and programs are as follows:
Various certification agencies such as ASQ, IIA and RABQSA provides auditor certification after assessing the applicants on their knowledge, experience, skill competencies and education.
Interpersonal Skills:
Out of all the skills required of an auditor, interpersonal skills are the skills which can be natural. However, interpersonal skills can be acquired by training, education and experience also. Auditor lacking interpersonal skills may not be able to conduct an effective audit. Interpersonal skills help to win the confidence of the auditee, maintain a good audit environment even when an auditor is critiquing auditee’s work. The auditor must possess an ability to ask probing questions and get to the core of the problem. Auditors should be able to communicate effectively, orally and in writing.
An auditor shall possess following communication skills:
- Listening
- Questioning
- Probing
- Critiquing
- Handling conflict
- Being clear and concise
- Good writing skills
- Good oral skills
- Appropriate body language
- Tactful
An auditor shall possess following auditing skills:
- Evaluating and judging
- Controlling an audit
- Planning and preparing
- Maintaining confidentiality
- Leading
- Supervising
- Recording
- Administering
- Decision making
- Analyzing evidence
- Drawing conclusions
- Understanding technical material
- Presenting (reports and at meetings)
- Verifying evidence (no assumptions)
- Discovering the truth (but not a witch hunt)
- Awareness of authority level
- Business understanding
- Observing
- Identifying problem areas
- Knowledge of audit principles and functions
- Applying knowledge
- Collecting data
- Organizing
- Time management
- Reviewing
- Sampling
- Assessing
Competence of an auditor is evaluated by considering personal behaviour and the ability to apply the knowledge and skills gained through education, work experience, auditor training and audit experience. It is not necessary for each auditor in the audit team to have the same competence; however, the overall competence of the audit team needs to be sufficient to achieve the audit objectives. Auditors should develop, maintain, and improve their competence through continual professional development and regular participation in audits.
Key auditing competencies include:
- Being able to implement an audit
- Maintaining communication
- Collecting and verifying audit evidence
- Composing findings and conclusions
For lead auditors, there is added emphasis on leadership, formal communication, and skills needed to manage the audit process.
Personal Traits
An auditor shall have various personal traits viz.
- Independent – acts and functions independently while interacting effectively with others
- Observant – actively aware of physical surroundings and activities
- Perceptive – instinctively aware of and able to understand situations
- Decisive – reaches timely conclusions based on logical reasoning and analysis
- Acting with fortitude – able to act responsibly and ethically, even though these actions may not always be popular and may sometimes result in disagreement or confrontation
- Open to improvement – willing to learn from situations, and striving for better audit results
- Open-minded – willing to consider alternative ideas or points of view
- Tenacious – persistent, focused on achieving objectives
- Ethical – fair, truthful, sincere, honest, and discreet
- Diplomatic – tactful in dealing with people
- Versatile – adjusts readily to different situations
- Collaborative – effectively interacting with others, including audit team members and the auditee’s personnel
- Culturally sensitive—observant and respectful of the culture of the auditee
- Integrity and resilience
- Systematic
- Trustworthy
- Persistent
- Positive
- Curious
- Patient
- Adaptable
- Unbiased
- Has no hidden agenda
- Courageous – not to be influenced by influential persons and shall be able to comment and object on any issues observed during audit
- Mature
In upcoming articles, we shall be discussing in detail about auditor’s behavior during audit, conflict management, communication including interviewing techniques and presentations.
Stay tuned!
Reference: ISO19011:2018
