Careers

Career Paths at GAO

Financial Auditors

Financial auditors participate in a wide range of engagements with the overall objective of strengthening accountability for the federal government’s assets and operations. Auditors typically

    • perform financial analyses,
    • promote financial management best practices,
    • assess internal controls, and
    • identify and suggest improvements in a variety of financial areas.

GAO’s work advances financial management infrastructure and systems improvements to help ensure that government agencies have meaningful and useful financial information available for making decisions, measuring performance, and managing programs effectively. Auditors also conduct annual audits of the U.S. government’s consolidated financial statements and of the financial statements prepared by major federal agencies, such as the Internal Revenue Service.

A financial auditor must have an undergraduate or graduate degree that includes 24 semester hours, or equivalent, of coursework in accounting and related subjects. Other requirements also apply. Entry financial auditors are assigned to GAO’s Professional Development Program in the Financial Management and Assurance team.