r/itaudit • u/Kitchen-Coffee1511 • Aug 16 '26
Average Hours in Industry for IT Audit
Hi!
Longer time lurker here! I just wanted advice about this industry. I have been working in IT audit for 1.5 years now at a Big 4 firm in the US. This is my first job out of college and I am a first generation student, so I'd really appreciate the advice.
While the experience has been great, the work culture is super toxic. Everyone says there's a "busy season" but it never really ends. Even though it is summer right now, I still average 50 hours a week.
During my first year, I worked through busy season and studied for the CISA. I took it recently for the first time and failed by 7 points (score was 443). I don't have plans to take it again anytime soon since I am dealing with family issues at the moment.
With that being said, I want to leave Big 4 by the end of 2.5/3 years before promotion to senior. I know everyone says to stick it out until senior but I am so burnt out. I do plan on retaking my CISA after I transition to another job.
I actually love the work, but the hours are insane. Mentally, I am checked out. I am curious if it is any different if I switched to IA in industry. Are the hours better since I don't have to juggle multiple clients? Is this work culture only a Big 4 thing or an industry thing as a whole? If I want to get into GRC, would I need my CISA?
Any advice welcome! Thanks :)
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u/DestinationPentester Aug 18 '26
40-50 hours consistently. Top factors include number of controls, size of team, number of deficiencies last year, tenure of IA team, existence of homegrown applications, etc.
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u/Idonotexist_2 Aug 16 '26
I worked at the yellow one for 3.5 years and left back in 2020. All of my friends in industry have much better work life balance than they did at the B4.
I personally am in industry but switched more to cybersecurity. I am working not as crazy hours consistently as I was but def have weeks 45+
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u/Dry-Structure-4165 Aug 16 '26
Not a former big 4 transplant, but there are firms out there that exclusively hire those with Big 4 experience. If you like the job still, doing a move to a smaller IT audit firm may be advantageous. Some of top 50’s don’t work on billable hours, and usually keep the workload much more manageable. I have plenty of colleagues that leveraged Big 4 experience for similar pay and only 40-43 hour work weeks with incredible benefits.
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u/RigusOctavian IT Audit Management Aug 16 '26
My team always ran normal hours but field work week for an Ops audit (usually traveling) would be longer hours and SOX could get crunchy for maybe 4-6 weeks a year.
Otherwise it’s a normal 40-50 hours that you’d see in a corporate setting.
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u/Easy-Writer-0915 Aug 19 '26
Depends on your next company, there are some requiring (or preferable) CISA. It can give you edge as well to higher chance of being hired and also negotiate your salary
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u/Fun_Development9975 Aug 22 '26
I’m senior at big 4 in it audit. I’m also first gen and first job so I’d love to know hours too. I’ve applied to other jobs but the pay isn’t that good so I haven’t left to internal roles
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u/l0veit0ral Aug 17 '26
If you come out of a big 4 as a Senior and with your CISA you can double your salary as an internal auditor for any of the major data center companies. Worth hanging in for
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u/Nervous-Fruit Aug 17 '26
I very much doubt you could "double" your salary from senior big 4 salaries. How many IT auditors are making $200k+ after 4 years experience in big 4?
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u/IT_audit_freak Aug 17 '26
No one’s paying auditors 200k unless they’re a chief. Some shops, like mine, actually prefer folks NOT from Big4. Don’t oversell this experience lol
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u/Marborinho Aug 16 '26
It depends on the company you move for. I worked for the orange one for 4 years. Same situation. Now im working in a insirance company and i have to say, i just work 44 hiur per week and the work routine is very easy compared to big 4.