Internal Audit has changed. If you’ve ever thought of IA as a way to chart your corporate career then we should talk; here’s why?

Some of the most enlightened and ultimately successful accountants that I know took their first step from practice into an Internal Audit role.  You might not like to hear that but it’s just a fact.

Why?  Well, because the majority of larger corporates in Ireland use their Internal Audit function as a talent pool from which to hire for their broader finance team.  Lots of key finance roles in Irish Plcs and similar never get advertised in the public domain because the person in the IA team gets the role internally.

So – here’s 3 reasons that might be worth thinking about before discounting IA as a first step out of practice:

1. You get way more exposure to the business in IA than in an accounting or analysis role.  Exposure means learning and it means you’ll have a little time to decide what finance team you want to work with in the future.
2. The majority of CFOs have spent time at some stage in IA, so that they can get a feeling for the business beyond the numbers.  If you’re ambitious then you’ll probably have to do a tour of duty in IA at some stage… no time like the present 😉
3. We’ve done the math and the average time in IA before moving internally is approx 2 years.  Your career will span 40+years.  It’s not a big deal if you’re serious about your future.

Oh – and if that was not enough, recent changes in working patterns mean that IA roles will likely have less travel in the future than in the past.  Companies are cutting the level of travel by up to 50% and using a blend of on-site and remote testing to meet the needs of their business.  So if you’re worried about being on a plane 70% of the time, don’t be.  1 week a month (or just under 25%) seems to be the emerging average.  IA just got easier 😉

Right now we’ve IA roles across multiple businesses from successful Irish brands to global companies, covering FMCG to tech to manufacturing. These roles are at recently qualified accountant level right up to 1st-year Director level or equivalent in Big 4. And these roles have salaries from 60k – 90k depending on the level.

There has never been a time like right now to use IA to chart your corporate career.

Curious?  Drop Siobhan Sexton ACA (siobhan.sexton@barden.ie) a line and Siobhan will take it from there. Easy.