Auditors are entrusted with safeguarding the financial integrity of organizations. To perform their occupation, they must have extremely high cognitive and executive abilities, maintaining mental acuity at a superior level. An auditor needs these innate characteristics, years of education and professional certification.
They are charged with serving as a neutral third party, in a sense a fiduciary to the public interest, standing between sound financial management and financial disaster for shareholders, stakeholders and in some instances, the economy itself.
Scope of Work and Legal Responsibilities
Auditors perform exhaustive examinations of a company’s financial records, including but not limited to:
- Financial Statements: Balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements.
- Accounting Methods: Analyzing bookkeeping techniques and accrual methods.
- Internal Controls: Reviewing systems for safeguarding assets and ensuring compliance.
- Regulatory Compliance: Verifying adherence to local, state, and federal laws, as well as industry-specific regulations.
They determine whether the organization complies with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and protect companies from financial misstatement and fraud. This work includes assessing:
- Cash flow integrity
- Financial reporting accuracy
- Organizational operations
- Risk exposure and internal control strength
Auditors are often called upon to prepare risk assessments, flagging fraud, mismanagement, or systemic deficiencies that could result in litigation or regulatory action.
All public companies are legally required to undergo periodic audits by external, independent auditors. These professionals may also work alongside government agencies and regulatory authorities to ensure lawful operation and sector compliance.
Auditors Must Undergo Rigorous Training and High Certification Requirements
Becoming an auditor requires rigorous academic and professional preparation. The typical pathway includes:
- Bachelor’s degree in accounting or finance.
- Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license, governed by state boards.
- Certification through the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).
In specialized cases, further credentialing such as:
- Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF)
- Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE)
Forensic accountants, who often serve in investigative or litigation support roles, may also function as auditors when appropriately credentialed.
Core Competencies and Cognitive Demands
An auditor must possess an exceptional level of executive function and high-level cognitive ability. Key professional competencies include:
- Analytical Thinking: Interpreting complex financial data to detect inconsistencies or errors.
- Attention to Detail: Ensuring every line item and transaction is properly vetted.
- Critical Evaluation: Objectively assessing systems, controls, and operational risks.
- Problem Solving: Navigating and resolving financial discrepancies.
- Legal and Regulatory Knowledge: Understanding applicable laws, accounting standards, and compliance mandates.
- Communication Skills: Articulating findings and recommendations through detailed reports and presentations.
- Time Management: Managing concurrent audits and tight deadlines with meticulous recordkeeping.
- Technological Proficiency: Utilizing data analytics, AI tools, and audit software to enhance audit quality.
In addition to all of these capabilities, auditors must also have a holistic understanding of how businesses operate at both a granular and strategic level.
Cognitive Disabilities and the Auditor’s Role
Auditing, by its very nature, is mentally demanding. The professional functions performed require superior cognitive faculties including memory, focus, planning, logical reasoning, and multitasking. Should an auditor acquire a cognitive disability, it may materially impair their ability to fulfill these essential functions.
Common causes of cognitive disability include:
- Traumatic brain injury
- Dementia or neurodegenerative diseases
- Neurological conditions affecting memory or executive function
- Mental health disorders with cognitive impacts
Such conditions may undermine an auditor’s ability to:
- Capacity to analyze and interpret data accurately
- Ability to maintain focus over extended periods
- Judgment in identifying financial risks
- Speed and precision in reporting findings
Disabilities Impacting Auditors
Over the years, Jason Newfield has represented numerous auditors, CPAs and consultants whose job performance required high level cognitive skills. They suffered from different conditions, some physical and some mental/cognitive. The two things they had in common were their high incomes and denials of their long term disability insurance claim.
The chief challenge facing our clients was the complete lack of understanding of what an auditor does and the requirements for high level functioning. Claims adjusters and those doing medical reviews consistently failed to appreciate the mental acuity needed to perform the tasks of the auditors’ duties, the intense nature of their jobs and the responsibility they face for reporting that could bolter or in many cases, seriously damage a company.
CASE STUDY: McKinsey & Company Auditor
Newfield Law Group represented a consultant who was an employee of McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm that serves Fortune 500 companies, governments and non-governmental organizations. Known for guiding massive companies through the use of diagnostics, market intelligence, management technology and analytics, McKinsey & Company is a high level source for public and private companies. The employees working at McKinsey are similar to the students at a world class college like MIT or Stanford. In fact, the company boasts of recruiting at top tier business schools and colleges.
Jason Newfield’s client suffers from TMJ or TMD (temporomandibular disorder), autonomic dysfunction/dysautonomia; POTS (Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome), chronic pain, and the combination of all of these conditions, which impact her cognitive and physical functionality. After paying her claim for a short period of time, her claim was terminated.
Newfield Law Group succeeded in having her claim reinstated with a robust appeal focusing on the insurance company’s failure to properly review her medical records and a failure to understand the complex and demanding nature of her work. We were able to provide objective evidence of her issues of fatigue and pain and the other symptoms of her impairments. We also educated the insurance company about the nature of her work at McKinsey & Company. We overturned the claim termination and she is now being paid her disability benefits and focusing on her health.
Top Consulting and Auditing Firms
The largest consulting and auditing firms are often called “Big Four”
- Deloitte
- PwC (Price Waterhouse Coopers)
- EY (Ernst & Young)
- KPMG
An equally respected group of large consulting and auditing firms are the “Big Three”
- McKinsey and Company
- BCG (Boston Consulting Group)
- Bain
Equally well respected large auditing and consulting firms include:
- Accenture
- BDO
- Baker Tilly
- CBiz
- CohnReznick
- Grant Thorton
- Mazars
- McGladry and Pullen
- Moore Stephans
- Moss Adams
- PragerMetis
- RSM
- Smith & Williamson
Call Newfield Law Group to Learn How We Can Help You
If you are an auditor, CPA or consultant with a high pressure, demanding job and you can’t work because of a disability or injury, you are invited to call Jason Newfield at 877-406-7883 to discuss your situation. We work with professionals just like you every day, whose high income puts your claim at risk. Call today – there’s no obligation and Jason will be able to educate you on your claim and what you can expect.