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Principal auditor: Lisa

This Case Study belongs to Chartered public finance accountant.

Lisa graduated with a degree in mathematics.

Lisa chose a career as an auditor as she wanted to work in the public sector and somewhere where she would gain a good professional qualification. She had an initial interview with the Audit Commission and then attended a day’s assessment centre where she had to focus on ‘real life’ tasks such as interviewing, gathering/analysing information and report writing. Her tips for getting in and getting on in this kind of job include being aware of what’s happening in the public sector and also in the wider financial sector. The Audit Commission also offers placements to students who think that they might be interested in a career in public sector audit and accounting.

Lisa's degree in mathematics has enabled her to use her transferable skills in her career - skills such as the ability to analyse information quickly, draw conclusions from it and present the findings clearly. Other than already being comfortable with numbers, Lisa feels her degree isn’t particularly relevant to her job at all. Many of the trainees who start with the commission have degrees in arts or other sciences.

After obtaining her Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) qualification, Lisa's role has developed dramatically. She now has a wider client base, runs her own audits and teams, and plans and resources these projects. The tasks within her role include managing and supporting staff, providing training, gathering information from clients, auditing financial accounts, performance information, data quality, use of resources, writing reports and providing results (good and bad!). Her client base includes police, local government, health organisations and regional development bodies. In the future, Lisa would like to become an audit manager and then do some work at a charity or other public sector body.

Lisa enjoys the interaction with clients and the chance to see how a variety of different public sector bodies work. Deadlines and budgets can be tight, and in the public sector, things are constantly changing. That is one of things that keeps it interesting though!

Case Study sourced by Tina Lannin of AGCAS, 25 September 2008.