Audit Internship: Understand the Controls, Gather Evidence, Report Back

Two neighbouring professions with different aims

The word “audit” covers quite different realities, and mixing them up can cost you an application. Financial audit, usually carried out in a firm, exists to give an opinion on whether an entity’s accounts can be relied on. The auditor tests balances, transactions and control procedures, then draws conclusions about the picture the financial statements give.

Internal audit belongs to the organisation itself. It assesses how well risks are managed, how good the control arrangements are and whether processes comply with the rules: purchasing, payroll, information systems, data security. Its recommendations go to management and the audit committee, and are followed up over time.

There is a third case: statutory audit, carried out by statutory auditors (commissaires aux comptes in France) for entities whose accounts must be certified. In practice, many firms combine statutory audit, contractual audit and advisory work. Before you apply, read the advert carefully to see which family the assignment belongs to.

Start from a control question

An audit is not a method-free hunt for mistakes. It starts from a scope, a period and an identified risk, for example: “Are supplier invoices approved before they are paid?” or “Does the inventory shown on the balance sheet really exist?” From that question comes a work programme: what information to request, which samples to select and which tests to run.

An intern gains a great deal by putting three questions to their supervisor on day one:

1. What is the objective of this assignment, and what period does it cover?
2. Which risks or procedures are we trying to verify?
3. What is my role in the work programme, and who reviews my work?

The answers give a common thread to every task, even the most repetitive ones, and stop you from working “in a vacuum”.

Gathering evidence and documenting your tests

An auditor’s raw material is audit evidence: a contract, an invoice, a bank statement, a confirmation from a third party, an extract from the information system, a note of an interview. The more independent and direct the evidence, the more weight it carries in the conclusion.

Each test is recorded in a working file. A good test sheet states:

• the aim of the check and the risk it covers;
• the population and the way the sample was selected;
• the documents examined, with their references;
• the result, any exceptions found and their explanation, if there is one;
• the conclusion, signed and dated.

A practical rule: organise your file so that a colleague who was not there could retrace your reasoning. If an outsider cannot see how you reached a conclusion, the work is not finished.

A finding that does not state its limits is fragile. Say what the evidence shows, but also what it does not allow you to say, for instance when the sample is small or the document is an unsigned copy.

What an intern or apprentice actually does

Tasks vary from one organisation to another, but some come up again and again:

• Detail testing: matching entries to supporting documents, checking calculations, reviewing bank reconciliations.
• Confirmations and requests: preparing confirmation requests to banks, customers or suppliers, then chasing the replies.
• Process mapping: drawing a diagram of how a transaction flows, from order to payment, and spotting the control points.
• Prepared interviews: sitting in on discussions with operational staff, taking notes and drafting the write-up.
• Data analysis: applying filters and sorts to large extracts to find duplicates or unusual entries.
• Reporting: writing a draft finding and presenting it to the team before anything is circulated.

An intern always works under the team’s responsibility: they contribute, but they never sign off a binding conclusion on their own.

Courses and certifications worth knowing about

There is no single way in. Firms take on people from master’s degrees in accounting, control and audit, from business schools, from engineering programmes and from the chartered accountancy route. Masters such as the control, audit and financial reporting track at Paris Dauphine-PSL combine apprenticeship from the first year for some students with projects run with partner companies.

On the internal audit side, the French Institute of Internal Audit and Control (IFACI) offers a catalogue of courses and recognised certifications, including the CIA (Certified Internal Auditor) and the CRMA for risk management. These are usually taken once you are in a job, but knowing they exist helps you understand how a career can develop.

For a student, the skills worth building early are: reading financial statements, advanced spreadsheet use, basic notions of internal control, clear writing, and a willingness to talk with people who may be sceptical of the auditor’s questions.

Firm, company or public sector: where to find a place

The large audit and advisory firms offer internships and work-study contracts every year, and set out their student profiles on their careers sites. Some also run student ambassador programmes or publish articles to help you prepare an application in audit, data or IT.

Internal audit departments in banks, insurers and large companies also recruit interns, sometimes in connection with compliance or risk. Mid-sized firms, finally, often offer more varied assignments and faster responsibility, but with a smaller team to supervise you.

To choose, compare three things: the variety of the work, the quality of the supervision, and whether the calendar fits your course. In firms, the year-end audit season concentrates the workload in one part of the year; in internal audit, the annual plan is more evenly spread.

An illustrative purchasing assignment

Here is a fictional scenario, with round numbers, to show what an internal audit intern might do.

The team has to check that purchases are approved before they are paid at a retail company. The intern receives an extract of 2,000 supplier payments. With their supervisor, they define a sample of 40 payments, set criteria (high value, new supplier, payment at month end) and then gather the purchase order, the invoice and the proof of approval for each one.

1. Of the 40 files, 36 are complete.
2. In 3 files, the approval is dated after the payment.
3. In 1 file, the purchase order cannot be found.

They document each case, ask the buyers for explanations, then propose a draft finding: the exception exists, but how far it extends is limited by the size of the sample. The supervisor reviews it, softens the wording and decides what happens next. The intern has learned to link a control question, a piece of evidence and a cautious conclusion.

Applications and interviews: be convincing without overstating

A future auditor’s CV brings out method: university projects with data analysis, accounting case studies, voluntary roles where you ran a till or a budget. Put figures on whatever can be measured, without embellishing.

Your cover letter should name the type of audit you are aiming for. Writing “financial audit in a firm” or “internal audit in a risk department” shows you understand the difference. Then tie your motivation to something specific about the organisation: its sector, the size of its clients, its analytical tools.

In interviews you will often be asked to think aloud. For example: “How would you check that inventory exists?” Structure your answer in a few steps (count, match, confirm), acknowledge the limits and ask a clarifying question. Calm curiosity beats a recited answer.

Common mistakes on a first audit assignment

• Ticking without understanding: carrying out a test without knowing its purpose makes it impossible to spot anomalies.
• Interpreting too quickly: an exception is not always an error; first look for an explanation from the person concerned.
• Documenting afterwards: rebuilding a file from memory loses references and nuance.
• Neglecting confidentiality: information about a client or an audited department is not shared outside the team.
• Avoiding disagreement: if your conclusion differs from a colleague’s, set out your evidence calmly rather than falling into line by default.

One last piece of advice: keep a notebook of what you learn each week. It will form the basis of your internship report and your future interviews.