Statutory Audit
Jitender Singh Chartered Accountant-Senior Associate-Assurance, KPMG
The profile of Statutory Audit often includes both Statutory as well as Tax Audit.
In Statutory audits up to Manager level you are more into execution whereas post
Manager level you would be devoting more time in planning and reviews along with
business development activities. Your role would BE to perform audit procedures
in your assigned areas as per auditing standards and firm’s policy, ensuring
applicable laws are compiled by Company and Accounting standards are compiled
while preparation of financial statements. To excel in this field, you should
have advanced to expert knowledge of accounting standards (AS/ Ind AS/ IFRS)
and firm policy, good to advanced knowledge of auditing standards, GST, Income
tax and other relevant applicable laws on Company you are auditing (RBI, FEMA, Customs etc.).
Although all fields have timelines, however deadlines in this field are stringent and demands
a high level of commitment, extended hours and can also involve extensive travelling.
From the start of your career in audit, you start dealing with senior level people which helps
you grow as a professional. Appropriate learning can also help you easily transform your career
into industry at a later stage at senior levels.
Risk/ Internal Audit
Shikha Goenka Chartered Accountant - Former Senior Manager, Kotak Mahindra Bank
“Here we are the "eyes and ears of the management". We would be working in teams
and performing business audits from start to finish. So getting to know about how
business works is a big add on. You get to work on report writing.. You get to interact
with departmental heads and so on”
Amit Agarwal Chartered Accountant, HDFC bank
Internal audit is a respectable profile in the financial sector especially because it comes
under the purview of a regulator. Internal audit in the banking sector has various divisions
like retail assets, liabilities, wholesale banking, etc. The profile involves various analyses
like ensuring the compliance of various regulatory norms, internal policies and procedures
identification of process gaps or loopholes in the processes. Also, one of the major concerns
is to identify the revenue leakages as the public money is involved here. It is a very good
career option for CA freshers to begin with and they can pursue it further depending on their
interest levels.
Management Audit
Kushal Bhargava Director Calibehr Business Support Services Pvt. Ltd
Management audit as it signifies, is the evaluation of the performance
of the management process and functions. When we look at management audits,
you need to understand the process of the organisation and then benchmark
them against the best in the industry. This helps you in understanding the
thought process of the management, without actually being part of the organisation
and then suggesting best practices. By doing the above the business understanding of
the individual becomes prolific and the individual can also measure the difference
he has made to the organisation.
Systems Audit
Darshan Vijay Shanbhag Chartered Accountant, Assistant Manager, MIS & Cost Analysis at NeoGrowth Credit Private Limited
In this digitalized world, the main focus and importance is given to Information
Technology (IT), without which work-flow seems to be very slow and difficult.
I would like to share some interesting facts about System Audit. There is a
big myth among all of us that System Audit or IT Audit is all about technology
knowledge being involved in subject matter. However, it is not totally about
the technology. System Audit deals more with assessing the risk and reducing
the risk. In this profile, CA as an IT Auditor has to give assurance to the
shareholders & regulators about the IT risk and functionality and risk mitigation
procedures. There are technology intensive industries like Banking & Financial
Services, Stock Exchanges, Manufacturing sectors etc. which need the services
of an IT Auditor.
For doing the IT Audit, a person should possess training and
certification in Information Security and the knowledge of Risk Management and
in-depth knowledge of Auditing concepts along with Regulatory requirements which
includes the knowledge of Information Technology Law & other business related laws.
To scale up your career with today’s trends, challenges, and futuristic goals,
taking up Training and Certification in Information Security. CISA is a
world-renowned Information System Audit based course issued by ISACA based in
the U.S. and is the best option for CAs who are interested in Audit & IT.
The course is designed to bring the best risk-based information system auditor.
CISA has more value than DISA as it is internationally recognized. Other
certifications include CISM, CISA, CRISC and CGEIT.
Forensic Audit/ Investigation
Pooja Mehta Chartered Accountant & Company Secretary - Consultant, PriceWaterhouseCoopers
“It’s a very specific audit type which is quite interesting and different from what
we did in our articleship days. Here you detect frauds, assimilate evidence and
yes, even interrogate guilty parties...its super cool and you even feel like ACP
Pradyuman at times! You may often have to work for very long hours but what keeps
you going is that each assignment is totally different from the previous one”
Bank Audit
Ankit Tiwari Chartered Accountant, Associate at Janaswamy & Associates Partner at NJM & Associates Proprietor at A.R. Tiwari & Associates
The most important thing about Bank Audit is that Auditor have to be really vigilant
and sceptical as banks are dealing with public and we as Auditors are a second guard
to check if there is any misuse of Public money.
This makes the audit more challenging and needs real analytical mind as Transaction prima facie may
seem ok but an analytical and sceptical mind will always try find the structure of the Transaction.
Given recent scams and Governance failures at Banks put more responsibilities on auditors and stakeholders also expect auditors to
anticipate and highlight risk. There are many opportunities for Bank Auditors or as a matter of fact we are important to every aspect
of Banking viz; Credit appraisals, Operations, systems implementation, Governance & regulatory Compliance etc.
Compliance Risk Assessment
Neha Jaju Gala Chartered Accountant, Vice President (Compliance), Nomura Services India Private Limited
Compliance Risk Assessment is one of the very interesting roles in the Compliance space of
investment banking industry. The candidate works in the capacity of risk officer and performs
risk assessment by identifying the major risks within business lines, processes and procedures
to control and/or mitigate those risks. One garners sound business processes and regulatory
knowledge. Also, from skill sets perspective develop eye for detail because of analytical
activities involved in it and good communication skills as a lot of coordination is required
across business lines. This role is pursued by CA, MBA and FRM professionals.
Risk management is quite rewarding if one decides to choose this as a career option because compliance is
an integral part of any industry and offers a wide spectrum. The successful risk officer can eventually be
leading the risk management practice in the capacity of “Chief Risk Officer” in any organisation which is
a respectable and responsible position.