Congratulations on developing an interest in internal audit. At this point you must be doing research and asking your self if it makes sense to invest your time and money into becoming a Certified Internal Auditor. The short answer is yes, yes,yes and yes!! But don’t simply take our word for it. Lets explore the future of internal audit together by answering the following three questions: (1) Is there a demand in the market for internal auditors (2) is there a demand for the Certified internal Auditor designation; and (3) What type of salary can I expect as an Internal Auditor? As a bonus at the bottom of the page you will find statics for the top US cities
- Is there a demand in the market for internal auditors?
According to the 2019 Robert Half Salary Guide, hiring in financial services organizations remains robust. Regulation continues to affect the hiring environment, particularlly in data privacy, as companies look to hire internal auditors, and risk and compliance professionals. Additionally, “Internal Auditor” remained one of the hot position in the 2019 guide. To top it off, an indeed Job search conducted July 22, 2019 using the phrase “Internal Audit” showed a total of 11,692 U.S. jobs published within 7 days of the search date. In total, there were 71,692 jobs posted. Based on this information it looks like there is definitely a demand for internal auditors. Now before you jump out of your seat and sign up to become a Certified Internal Auditor lets first answer our second question.
(2) Is there a demand for the Certified Internal Auditor designation?
To answer this an indeed search was conducted on July 22, 2019 using the phrase “Certified Internal Auditor”. The search revealed 472 “new jobs”, within 7 days of the sample date, across the united states. In total, there were 3,135 jobs posted as of the search date. These numbers seem promising for those holding or pursuing the designation. Per the 2019 Salary Guide, Robert Half would agree as the “Certified Internal Auditor” designation was identified as one of the top certifications.
When considering a job/career salary is an important factor that should be considered. Most of us seek financial security and you should do your homework to make sure your career can help achieve that goal. Your homework should be a lot easier since we are providing you with some data for our third question “What type of salary can I expect as an Internal Auditor?”
To answer this question we utilized the Robert Half 2019 Salary guide which identified the starting salaries (not including bonuses, benefits and other forms of compensation) for positions based on national averages. For an idea of what your local compensation may look like download the salary guide and increase or decrease the national average salary by the percentage variance for your city (included below are the percentages for the top five cities which held the most open jobs during our research). The figures used by RH are general guidelines only so it is possible that compensation could fall above or below the stated amounts. Salaries are provided for different levels of experience (percentile ranks) as described below.
Percentile ranks:
Percentile 25th 50th (midpoint) 75th 95th
Candidate Experience Level Less experience than typical Average experience More experience than typical Significant, highly relevant experience
Candidate Skills/ Expertise Still developing skill set Necessary skills to meet job requirements Strong skill set; may include specialized certifications High level of expertise, including specialized certifications
Job Complexity/Duties Role may be in an industry with low competition for talent or in a smaller, less complex organization or department Role may be of average complexity or in an industry where competition for talent is moderate Role may be fairly complex or in a fairly competitive industry for talent The role may be in a market where competition for talent is extremely high or the role maybe highly complex
As you can see, certifications are considered in the levels above “midpoint”. According to The IIA’s 2017 Internal Audit Compensation Study (based on U.S. responses) CIA’s earned on average $38,000 more than those without a certification.
Okay time to look at the good stuff. Lets look at the national averages for various internal audit positions.
Corporate Accounting (CA)/ Financial Services (FS) 25% 50%
(midpoint) 75% 95%
Internal Auditor position/ Years of experience
Chief Audit Executive/Vice President, Internal Audit/
Internal Audit Director$127,750 $179,250 $213,000 $285,000
Manager-CA $96,750 $112,750 $134,500 $157,500
Manager-FS $89,500 $118,500 $128,500 $170,750
Senior - CA $75,000 $87,250 $105,000 $120,250
3 to 5 Years-FS $68,750 $87,500 $98,750 $129,250
1 to 3 years -CA $58,250 $71,000 $84,250 $95,000
1 to 3 Years-FS $57,750 $70,250 $83,000 $110,750
Up to 1 Year-CA $38,250 $46,250 $55,000 $71,500
A top salary in 2019, according to RH, can be expected to hit $285,000 for individuals hired as: Chief Audit Executive, Vice President of Internal Audit, or Internal Audit Director; in a role that may be highly complex and more strategic in nature than usual or in an industry that is highly competitive for talent. It would be expected that these individuals would have significant, highly relevant experience and a high level of expertise, including specialized certifications.
BONUS!!!!!
Where are the jobs?
As promised we conducted a search on indeed using the phrases “internal audit” and the top five cities with open jobs using the phrase were: New York NY, Chicago IL, San Francisco, CA, Houston TX, and Atlanta,GA. When using the phrase “Certified Internal Auditor” Washington, DC; Charlotte,NC; and McLean, VA were added to list replacing San Francisco, CA; Houston, TX; and Atlanta, GA.
Top Five using the phrase “internal audit”
- New York NY……..…..+40.5%
- Chicago IL…………….+23.5%
- San Francisco CA….…….+41%
- Houston TX …………..+8%
- Atlanta GA…………….+6%
Top five when using the phrase “Certified Internal Auditor”
- Chicago IL…………….+23.5%
- Washington DC………+33%
- New York NY……..…..+40.5%
- Charlotte NC…………….+2%
- McLean , VA …………….(unable to obtain estimated salary adjustment)
There you have it, we hope you found this information useful. Leave us a comment below and share your thoughts.
