[HoosierDaddy]

I have done extensive research on earning additional certifications after seeing how much my CPA helped my career. The IT audit field is growing very quickly and pays well. Any of these certifications will help you stand out from other applicants.

I’d recommend searching for your prospective certification on jobsites like indeed to see if companies are looking for people with that cert. If there aren’t many jobs, the cert is probably not worth your time.

Here are some good ones:

CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional): Great managerial IT certification that doesn’t require knowledge of programming. Very well respected.

CISA (Certified Information Systems Auditor) – Great for the rapidly expanding IT audit field. The wording of questions on this exam can be very tricky and study materials are not the best quality as of 2015. Still a great and highly sought after certification.

NETWORK+: Used to measure skill as a network technician including understanding of network hardware, installation, and troubleshooting. Topics include configuration, management, and troubleshooting of common wired and wireless network devices. Also included are emerging technologies such as unified communications, mobile, cloud, and virtualization technologies. If you can provide these skills to your IT audit team, you will be very valuable.

SECURITY+: deals with computer security topics such as cryptography and access control, as well as business-related topics such as disaster recovery and risk management. Exam topics include network security, compliance and operation security, threats and vulnerabilities as well as application, data and host security. Also included are access control, identity management, and cryptography. This is a lite version of the CISSP.

LINUX+: Certification of knowledge of Linux operating systems, from their installation and use to the basics of applicable free software and open source licenses. Many banks use LINUX and UNIX legacy systems. You can find a great niche in IT audit and banking if you know this programming language. It also serves a starting point to learn later computer programming languages.

There are also CompTIA “plus” certifications for Servers and Cloud computing.

Good Luck!

-Passed all four sections of CPA exam in 2010 using Becker.
-Former Seasonal Audit Senior with Big Four accounting firm.
-Plan to sit for Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS)

[Accountant183748]

Thanks for sharing this. I am also considering getting into IT Audit, but am not sure how to approach it. I currently work at a small CPA firm doing mostly tax returns and reviews/compilations.

Would it be best to go back to school to get a master's or a certificate from a university? Or a certificate like CISA?

Any advice/tips would be appreciated. Thank you 🙂

[aaronmo]

I like this post too…I'm not strong IT background, but have thought about trying to pick up an IT cert. I'm definitely going to pick up my CCMC cert because I already meet the reqs and it's low hanging fruit.

In an ideal world, I'd like to be able to combine my legal/contracts background with audit and specialize in auditing contract values/liabilities.

[Accountant183748]

What is CCMC? I tried to Google it, but couldn't find it.

[aaronmo]

This is what I meant…got some of the alphabet wrong…

https://www.ncmahq.org/learn-and-advance/certification/cpcm

[BamaGuyinNC]

@HoosierDaddy, do you have any suggestions on which industry (private industry, CPA firms, or governmental) to focus on with these IT certifications? I am Network+ and Security+ certified and not having any luck at applying to CPA firms for entry-level IT Audit roles. I also have additional IT certs (14 in total) to include MCP, MCTS, MCITP, and MCSA on various Microsoft platforms–Windows Server, desktop operating systems, and SharePoint. I have a background in financial accounting and 2 years of IT Help Desk.

[Author]

Replies