How to Answer: If you were given documentation that didn't make sense mathematically, what would your next steps be?
Advice and answer examples written specifically for an Auditor job interview.
8. If you were given documentation that didn't make sense mathematically, what would your next steps be?
How to Answer
This is important. When handling a financial audit, you'll have to redo calculations and formulas to ensure the numbers provided are accurate. You'll have to know the local applicable tax rates and all other variables.
If you find something that doesn't add up you, you'll have to go back to the person who submitted it and let them know so it can be corrected. As the auditor, it's not your responsibility to fix the error, it's your job to report it.
Written by Samantha Hamilton on January 25th, 2019
Entry Level
"If I encountered an error, I'd confer with a co-worker or my boss to determine exactly where they went wrong. Then I'd take it back to the company, client, or person who submitted it and have them correct it. Once it was corrected, I'd continue the audit."
Written by Samantha Hamilton on January 25th, 2019
Answer Example
"If I find a math error on some documentation, my first step would be to verify with a colleague that I'm not incorrect. Math can be wrong on either side of the equation. Maybe I have the wrong tax rate. If they concur with me, then I'd take it to the person or point of contact to rerun and correct the numbers. People are human. Errors occur all the time, which is why they have auditors and checks and balances to catch these things."
Written by Samantha Hamilton on January 25th, 2019
Experienced
"This happens all the time in companies that don't have a strong check and balance system. You would return the document to the submitter and explain the error. They'd work their way back to fix the error and adjust all documentation affected before resubmitting it to the audit team to continue the audit."
Written by Samantha Hamilton on January 25th, 2019