Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Audit Coordinator

🎯 Role Definition

The Audit Coordinator organizes, executes and tracks internal audit activities to help the organization identify, evaluate and remediate control weaknesses. This role supports audit planning, testing (including SOX/controls testing), findings management, stakeholder communication, and continuous improvement of audit processes using audit management tools and data analytics. The Audit Coordinator is a hands-on contributor who ensures audit quality, timely reporting and effective coordination among business units, external auditors and risk owners.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Junior/Internal Auditor or Staff Auditor
Staff Accountant or Financial Analyst with audit exposure
Compliance Analyst or Risk Analyst

Advancement To:

Senior Internal Auditor / SOX Specialist
Audit Manager / Internal Audit Lead
Risk Manager or Controls Manager

Lateral Moves:

Compliance Officer / Compliance Manager
Internal Controls Analyst
IT Audit or Data Analytics Specialist

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Plan and coordinate end-to-end internal audit engagements: develop scope and objectives, perform risk assessments, prepare detailed audit programs, assign tasks, and manage fieldwork scheduling to ensure audits are completed on time and aligned with the annual audit plan.
Maintain and update the annual risk-based internal audit plan in collaboration with the Audit Manager and enterprise risk owners, ensuring coverage of high-risk processes, regulatory drivers (SOX, industry rules) and strategic priorities.
Execute control testing across finance, operational, and IT processes using professional sampling techniques; document procedures, evidence and results in audit workpapers consistent with internal and regulatory standards.
Conduct SOX 404 control design and operational effectiveness testing, identify control deficiencies, categorize severity, and prepare remediation recommendations with clear action plans and owners.
Draft clear, well-structured audit reports and findings that summarize scope, methodology, results, root cause analysis and prioritized recommendations; present findings to process owners and senior stakeholders.
Monitor remediation progress by tracking open issues in the audit issue management system, coordinating with process owners for status updates, and performing follow-up testing to validate closure.
Lead and coordinate cross-functional audits involving finance, procurement, IT, HR and operations to ensure integrated process and control coverage, escalate interdependencies and identify systemic control gaps.
Serve as the primary liaison with external auditors and regulatory examiners: consolidate requested documentation, coordinate onsite schedules, respond to queries and provide context on internal controls and remediation efforts.
Use audit management platforms (e.g., AuditBoard, TeamMate, Pentana) to manage workpapers, testing, findings, and reporting; ensure audit evidence is complete, consistent and stored according to retention policy.
Apply data analytics to enhance audit effectiveness — execute data extraction and interrogation (ACL/IDEA, SQL, Excel macros), build exception reports, trend analyses and sampling populations to target audit focus areas.
Maintain and improve audit methodologies, templates, checklists and process documentation to reflect evolving regulatory expectations, industry best practices and organizational changes.
Coach, review and supervise junior audit staff or contractors: assign work, review workpapers for completeness and quality, provide feedback and support development plans.
Prepare executive-level summaries and dashboards for audit leadership and the Audit Committee highlighting risk exposure, control effectiveness, remediation progress and escalations.
Manage audit logistics and administrative tasks including audit budgets, resource allocation, time reporting, scheduling and coordination of meeting logistics to keep engagements on schedule.
Conduct fraud risk assessments and preliminary investigations into irregularities; coordinate findings with Legal, Compliance and HR when necessary and recommend immediate control actions.
Participate in control design reviews for new systems, process changes, M&A integration and major projects to advise on control requirements and minimize future remediation.
Validate that business units understand control responsibilities by facilitating control owner interviews, walkthroughs and internal control self-assessment activities.
Ensure strict confidentiality and information security of audit data, protect personally identifiable information and adhere to data privacy requirements during testing and reporting.
Drive continuous improvement initiatives to increase audit efficiency and coverage — identify opportunities for automation of repetitive tests, standardize evidence collection and streamline report distribution.
Coordinate vendor and third-party audits as required: gather third-party documentation, assess vendor control environments and escalate vendor-related control risks to procurement and vendor management teams.
Support the development and delivery of internal training and awareness sessions on internal control and compliance topics to reduce repeat findings and enhance control ownership across the organization.

Secondary Functions

Assist in developing and maintaining the internal audit repository, control library and documentation standards to improve knowledge management and accessibility across the audit team.
Support ad-hoc risk and compliance projects such as regulatory readiness assessments, policy updates, and business continuity planning activities.
Participate in the evaluation and selection of audit tools and analytics platforms; contribute user requirements, perform vendor demos and pilot new tooling.
Collaborate with IT and data governance teams to improve data access, build audit-safe extracts and implement controls over sensitive data used in testing.
Help prepare materials for the Audit Committee and external stakeholders, including periodic status reports, trend analyses and executive summaries.
Contribute to recruiting, onboarding and training efforts for new audit hires and interns; serve as a mentor and provide on-the-job coaching.
Support cross-functional process improvement initiatives by providing audit insights and control design recommendations to reduce operational risk.
Maintain awareness of changing accounting standards, regulatory changes and industry developments and communicate pertinent updates to the audit team.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Internal audit planning and execution (risk-based methodology; audit programs; workpaper documentation).
SOX 404 compliance testing and control documentation aligned to COSO framework.
Audit management software proficiency (AuditBoard, TeamMate, Pentana or similar).
Data analytics and interrogation: ACL/IDEA, SQL queries, Power BI/Tableau, and advanced Excel (pivot tables, Power Query, VBA/macros).
Experience with ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, NetSuite) and testing controls in integrated finance systems.
Knowledge of accounting and reporting standards (GAAP, IFRS) as they relate to audit scope and testing.
Issue and remediation tracking tools and best practices for follow-up testing and evidence validation.
Control design assessments, process walkthroughs, and control owner interviews.
Report writing and executive-level presentation skills (executive summaries, dashboards).
Familiarity with regulatory requirements and industry-specific compliance (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA where applicable).
Sampling methodologies, substantive testing and analytical review procedures.
Basic project management: resource planning, budget tracking, and timeline management.

Soft Skills

Clear, persuasive verbal and written communication tailored to technical and non-technical audiences.
Strong stakeholder management and diplomacy when working with process owners and senior leadership.
Acute attention to detail and a methodical approach to documentation and evidence collection.
Critical thinking and root-cause analysis to convert observations into actionable recommendations.
Time management and prioritization to handle multiple engagements and deadlines concurrently.
Team leadership and coaching aptitude to develop junior staff and foster accountability.
High degree of integrity, confidentiality and ethical judgment.
Adaptability to changing risks, business priorities and evolving regulatory environments.
Problem-solving orientation with a focus on practical, business-aligned remediation.
Collaboration and cross-functional influence to drive process improvements beyond audit findings.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, Information Systems, or a related field.

Preferred Education:

Professional certification(s): Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) or equivalent.
Master’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Risk Management or Business Administration preferred but not required.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Accounting
Finance
Business Administration
Information Systems / IT Audit

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

2–5 years of relevant experience in internal audit, external audit, SOX compliance, risk or controls testing.

Preferred:

3–7 years of demonstrated experience coordinating and executing audits with direct SOX testing experience, exposure to ERP implementations, use of audit management tools and data analytics. Prior experience interacting with external auditors and supporting regulatory examinations is advantageous.