What Does an Auditor Do? Audit vs Advisory Careers Explained

An auditor examines evidence to assess whether financial information, processes or controls meet the relevant requirements. A junior auditor helps gather, check and document that evidence, asks questions and discusses findings with more experienced colleagues. Advisory work usually starts with a different brief: helping a client solve a defined problem or make a change.

For students comparing audit vs advisory, the useful question is therefore what kind of work you want to learn. Do you enjoy testing whether an explanation is supported? Are you more interested in helping implement a new accounting process? Which clients and business systems would you like to understand?

CareerFairy recordings with EY Switzerland and BDO Germany make those choices more concrete. The examples here come from EY’s April 2025 and April 2026 sessions and BDO’s October 2026 discussion. They illustrate those speakers’ work, rather than a single job description shared by every firm. If you are still comparing finance fields more broadly, start with our finance career guide.

What does a junior auditor actually work on?

A useful starting point is a reported cash balance. In EY Switzerland’s Auditing Practice recording from 28 April 2026, speakers asked students what they would check if a company reported a large amount of cash. The discussion went beyond whether a number had been added up correctly.

Does the cash exist at the reporting date? Is it available to the company? Have all relevant bank accounts been included? The session discussed reconciling accounting-system information with financial statements and obtaining external bank confirmation as evidence of existence.

This example shows why audit involves judgement as well as numerical accuracy. A figure can agree between two documents without answering every question about what it represents. The team has to consider which evidence addresses which issue.

For a junior, work can therefore involve checking information, documenting procedures and following up questions, with review from the team. You are learning how a conclusion is supported, not independently signing off a company’s accounts on your first assignment. Ask a prospective team which parts of that process a new joiner normally takes on.

Financial-statement audit, regulatory audit and accounting advisory

“Assurance” and “advisory” can cover several kinds of work. Read the service-line and team description before drawing conclusions from the firm’s name.

Financial-statement audit

Financial-statement audit focuses on the company’s reported financial information. EY’s April 2026 speakers also emphasised understanding processes, rather than treating the job as checking a spreadsheet in isolation.

The cash example connects a reported amount with the records and evidence behind it. In another part of a business, the relevant question could involve a different transaction, process or accounting judgement. The learning challenge is to understand how the business generates information and how the team assesses it.

This may suit you if you like structured investigation, careful documentation and asking why a number should be trusted. It also requires explaining questions to people who understand the client’s business better than you initially do.

Regulatory audit in financial services

In the same EY recording, speakers distinguished financial audit from regulatory work in Swiss financial services. They discussed areas such as anti-money-laundering requirements and compliance processes, and described a reporting focus involving FINMA, Switzerland’s financial-market supervisor.

For a student, the career implication is that “audit” can mean work with risk, compliance and internal-audit colleagues as well as with accounting teams. This is a description of the Swiss financial-services context discussed in the session; it should not be applied automatically to another country or sector.

If regulations and controls interest you, ask how the advertised role divides its time between financial reporting and regulatory topics. Do not assume that every assistant will rotate through both.

Accounting advisory

EY’s speakers described Financial Accounting Advisory Services through accounting questions and changes, including support with new accounting standards. The starting point is a client problem or implementation need, rather than the same brief as a financial-statement audit.

That can appeal if you enjoy translating technical accounting ideas into a process that people can use. It does not mean the work is less analytical or that audit has no problem-solving. The purpose and deliverable differ, while both can require detailed evidence, communication and teamwork.

EY’s official Swiss assurance careers page distinguishes several specialist areas. Use those team descriptions to narrow your interest before applying. A broad preference for “advisory” is less helpful than knowing whether you want accounting, technology-risk or another specific kind of work.

Why the client sector changes the experience

Auditing a bank is not the same learning experience as auditing a manufacturer. In BDO Germany’s Financial Services Audit and Advisory recording from 28 October 2026, a speaker contrasted the processes behind a physical product with those behind a bank’s lending activity.

The point for students is to ask how the client’s business becomes accounting information. Manufacturing involves physical production and purchasing processes. Financial services can involve highly digital transaction and data processes. Understanding that difference helps you choose the systems and business questions you want to learn about.

BDO’s discussion also placed audit and advisory within the financial-services environment. That does not make them interchangeable assignments or mean that one team can provide any service to any audit client. Ask about the actual team’s remit and how it manages the boundary between its services.

A strong application can explain why the client sector appeals to you. “I want to understand how a bank’s processes connect to its financial information” gives a team more to work with than “I like numbers.” You can support that interest with coursework, a project or relevant work experience without claiming expertise you do not yet have.

Expect client contact and review, not solitary number checking

EY’s April 2026 speakers discussed asking clients questions, learning from experienced colleagues and taking on more responsibility over time. Their examples make communication part of the technical job.

Imagine you have received information that does not answer the question your team needs to resolve. A useful response is to identify the gap, explain it clearly and check with your reviewer how to follow up. Simply collecting more documents may not solve the problem.

That is an editorial illustration of the working habits the sources suggest. You can demonstrate those habits outside audit: explain how you clarified an unclear task, checked evidence or raised an error constructively in a university project or part-time job.

The EY Switzerland recording from 28 April 2025 provides an earlier perspective on the same career area. Compare it with the 2026 session to build questions about learning and work, while using the current vacancy for recruitment details.

Check qualifications in the country where you will work

Do not treat “CPA” as one universal entry requirement or timetable. In EY’s April 2026 session, speakers described combining work with professional qualification study in Switzerland. Their individual experiences are useful questions for an employer, rather than a guarantee that your own route will be identical.

In Germany, the Wirtschaftsprüfer qualification has its own admission and examination process. The Wirtschaftsprüferkammer’s official career-entry guidance explains that admission involves educational and practical requirements, and that a particular university subject is not universally required. A junior vacancy’s hiring criteria and the later professional examination’s admission rules are separate checks.

Ask the recruiter which qualification the role supports, when study begins, how prior education is assessed and what practical experience is required. Also ask about study leave, fees, exam support and any contractual conditions. Get the current answer for your country and offer; a speaker’s study duration should not become your assumed deadline.

A checklist for choosing between audit and advisory

Use these questions when comparing vacancies or watching the recordings.

• Purpose: Will I mainly examine evidence against requirements, or help deliver a defined change or solution?
• Subject: Is the work about financial statements, regulation, accounting implementation, technology controls or another specialism?
• Clients: Which industries and organisations will I learn about?
• Junior tasks: What did a recent new joiner actually produce, and how was it reviewed?
• Communication: Who will I ask questions of, and how much client contact will I have?
• Learning: What training and professional study does this exact role support?
• Working pattern: What are the busy periods, travel expectations and arrangements during study or exams?

Neither path wins for everyone. Audit may appeal because you want to understand businesses through evidence and reporting. Accounting advisory may appeal because you want to help clients work through a change. The team’s actual assignments can matter more than the broad label.

Before applying, watch the EY and BDO recordings with two columns open: work you would like to try and questions you still need answered. Then use our guide to what recruiters look for in graduates to turn your interest into specific evidence. Your next step is to choose a team you can explain, not to declare a lifelong preference for every job called audit or advisory.