en
Jobs

Let our industry specialists listen to your aspirations and present your story to the most esteemed organisations in the Africa, as we collaborate to write the next chapter of your successful career.

See all jobs
Candidates

Together, we’ll map out career-defining, life-changing pathways to achieve your career ambitions. Browse our range of services, advice, and resources.

Learn more
Services

We understand that no two organisations are the same. Find out more about how we've customised our recruitment offerings to help clients meet their needs.

Read more
About Robert Walters Africa

Since our establishment 25 years ago, our belief remains the same: Building strong relationships with people is vital in a successful partnership.

Learn more

Work for us

Our people are the difference. Hear stories from our people to learn more about a career at Robert Walters Africa

Learn more

The role of an internal auditor

So you want to be an Internal Auditor? What is internal audit? We explore this essential business function in detail.


A highly regarded discipline within a financial function, internal audit provides a process and business unit review service that adds to shareholder value by improving business and financial controls.

If you choose to go down this route, the main purpose of your role is to review risk management, control and governance processes and then identify improvement opportunities.

You will then provide recommendations to drive change in the business. Internal audit addresses the entire range of operating activities and performs a wide variety of assurance and consulting services. It is an essential function of any business and is concerned with the financial workings of the entire organisation.

A highly regarded discipline within a financial function, internal audit (also known as operational and risk review) provides a process and business unit review service that adds to shareholder value by improving business and financial controls.


Internal audit is a great entry point into an organisation after working in practice. It’s a particularly popular route for those who want to utilise their current auditing skill set whilst gaining insight into the commercial side of a business. If you work in internal audit, you will generally have excellent opportunity to travel (locally and / or overseas), potentially taking up between 10% and 100% of your time.

Your time will be spent visiting each business area, reviewing their processes and procedures and understanding how they operate. You will have a real opportunity to get close to your business and gain a comprehensive understanding of it first hand.

You will also work closely with senior managers across a variety of operating units early on in your career. You will generally be at the heart of the business and facilitate improvements in conjunction with the management team.

There are two main career paths for internal auditors. You can either:

  • Continue to specialise and become the Head of Internal Audit
  • Broaden your skill set and move on to become Finance Manager (and then Finance Director) of a particular operating unit


If you have a background in practice and have strong technical audit skills, you are likely to do well in this role. You will need excellent commercial acumen so that you can quickly grasp the complexities of each different operating unit before offering concise and analytical reports to the business. Although the role draws heavily on your technical ability, it is crucial you have good interpersonal skills so that you can liaise with heads of business.

After 2 years within the field at the manager level, an internal auditor can typically expect a salary of between R550-750K. Likewise, at the controller level (5 yrs’ exp), you would expect a salary of between R750-900K.

After being in the profession for over 5 years however, this is when you will expect large variations in salary levels, with directors looking to earn salaries of between R900K and 1.6m.

Looking for your next accountancy or finance role? View the latest opportunities from Robert Walters.

Share this article

Useful links

Sign up for job alerts
Salary Survey
Career Advice
Get in touch

Find out more by contacting one of our specialist recruitment consultants

Related content

View All

Working as a financial business partner

Robert Walters examines just some of the key elements in becoming a finance partner, a key position in driving business forward. We took at what it takes and what you can expect from this rewarding role. In this role, you are normally based within a division of a large organisation and are looking a

Read More

How to become a chartered accountant

At Robert Walters in South Africa we've been successfully managing the careers of newly-qualified accountants for 15 years. So, we're well placed to offer you the help and advice you need at this key point in your career. If you are currently in high school your subject choice must include core math

Read More

Career path for newly-qualified accountants

Our accounting & finance recruitment team has been managing the careers of newly-qualified accountants for over 15 years. So we're well placed to offer you the help you need. Most CA (SA) start out in public practice as trainees and set out to achieve the CA qualification within three years. During

Read More

I'm Robert Walters Are you?

Come join our global team of creative thinkers, problem solvers and game changers. We offer accelerated career progression, a dynamic culture and expert training.