Stepping into the role of an audit senior is a really exciting and challenging phase in your audit career. You’re no longer just completing your assigned work, you’re leading fieldwork, managing juniors, liaising with clients and shaping the quality of the audit.
Having trained within external audit at a Big 4 firm, worked as an Audit Manager at a mid-tier firm and now leading bespoke training such as ‘How to be an Effective Senior’ for audit firms, it’s fair to say that I’ve seen the senior role from various different angles. Here are my five top tips to make the most out of the Audit Senior role.
- Own your section – but keep the bigger picture in mind
As a senior, your ownership of key audit areas is crucial. You’re expected to plan, perform and review work with minimal continuous support. However, it’s easy to get tunnel vision and lose sight of the audit as a whole. Make sure you understand how your audit area ties into the wider risk assessment. Ask yourself: ‘What’s the story my audit work tells?’ This will help you produce well documented and quality audit work and anticipate review comments, saving everyone crucial time!
- Communicate early and often
Good communication is one of the most important skills to have as an audit senior. You’re the main bridge between the audit team, the audit manager and responsible individual. Keep your manager updated on progress and issues – don’t wait until something becomes a roadblock. The same goes for your clients; set expectations upfront and clarify requests early. Remember, as the audit senior, you’re often the face of the audit team. How you communicate sets the tone for the client relationship and the team’s credibility.
- Develop your team, don’t just offload your list
Effective delegation is more than just assigning tasks. Great seniors explain why something matters, check understanding and then review with a coaching mindset. Take the time to help juniors learn from mistakes instead of just fixing them. The more capable your team becomes, the more you can focus on developing your own role, whether that’s working on more technical areas or management skills. The whole audit team will reap the rewards of effective delegation.
- Dealing with complex audit areas
As an audit senior, you’re going to be dealing with more technical audit and accounting areas that you’ve not come across before – something that will continue as you progress. The best approach when dealing with a complex audit area is taking a step back, ensure you have a thorough understanding of your client, think about the relevant assertions and where the audit risk arises. Always remember the age-old advice that no question is a stupid question, and even very experienced auditors will look for advice when tackling a complex problem.
- Reviewing for the first time
It’s likely that you’re going to be asked to get involved with reviewing audit juniors’ work and this can feel like a new challenge when, so far, you’ve been carrying out the audit work. Remember that your review isn’t just about ticking off checklists. It’s about ensuring the audit evidence truly supports the conclusions reached and that the audit test has been carried out in line with the test objective. Read the documentation as if you’re seeing it for the first time – does it make sense? Is it logical and well-supported? A good reviewer spots both technical and documentation gaps to improve audit quality and raises points to develop the knowledge and skills of the auditor.
Being an audit senior is where you start to learn to lead both people and audits. It’s a tough balancing act of managing detail and seeing the big picture, guiding others while still learning yourself. Apply these tips consistently and you’ll not only make your current audit smoother but also set yourself up for a successful career in audit.
Maya Norbury, November 2025
