Assistant Audit Officer (AAO): Job Profile, Pay Scale, Career Path

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Job Profile of Assistant Audit Officer:

 

The Assistant Audit Officer (AAO) post is one of the most preferred posts among SSC CGL Aspirants. As it has been introduced newly and the grade pay as compared to other jobs is higher, therefore, it attracts more registrations and applications. It also happens to be the only gazetted officer post.

• Candidates can infer this as a complete desk job as the job profile mostly involve financial auditing, performance analysis and compliance audits.
• Selected aspirants as AAO will be aligned to work with Audit Officer and Senior Audit Officer, who will provide both directives as well as insights on how to go about the responsibilities.
• Being the gazetted job profile eliminated as Assistant Audit Officer (AAO) will be made to involve in the decision making at the section level.
• Candidates have to assist Audit Officer (AO) or Senior Audit Officer in auditing of various government offices and government-owned corporations.
• An Assistant Audit Officer (AAO) assists Audit Officer/Senior Audit Officer in auditing the accounts of Central Govt, State Govt, Public Sector Undertakings etc.
• An Assistant Audit Officer (AAO) is in-charge of a Section with a staff of 4-10 people working under him.
• An AAO audits and disburse the claims (LTC, Medical, Children Education etc.) of employees of organization allotted to him.

Sometimes, candidates may get a field posting in which they would have to go to various places to perform audits. Travelling is inevitable in this department. Candidates would be posted at field work along with desk-in rotation to get an experience of both the working cultures.

Salary & Facilities provided to Assistant Audit Officer (AAO):

• Assistant Audit Officer (AAO) is a Group B Gazetted (Non-ministerial) Post.
• This post in under Indian Audit & Accounts Department (IA&AD) under CAG.
• Grade Pay 4800.
• Level 8. Starting Basic Pay Rs. 47,600.
• In Hand Salary is around Rs. 60,000 for Class X city. For complete Salary Details: See below
• CGHS Facility for Medical, HRA, TA, DA (to compensate for inflation), Advances etc.

  

SSC Salary Chart as per the approval given by Cabinet on 28th Jun for hiked allowances. This post contains SSC CGL Salary, SSC CHSL Salary in Hand, MTS Salary Structure etc.

HRA is to be paid at 24% of Basic Pay for X-class City, 18% for Y-Class City and 8% for Z-Class City. And will be increased to 27/18/9 % when DA crosses 25% and further to 30/20/10 % when DA cross 50%.
Least HRA paid would be Rs 5400/3600/1800 (according to city).

Classification of Cities for HRA (House Rent Allowance):
X – Population of 50 lakh & above.
Y – Population of 5-50 lakh.
Z – Population of below 5 lakh.


Posting:

The Indian Audit and Accounts Organization (IA&AD) of CAG has branches in 27 States. A selected candidate may be allotted one of city/state according to his preference and merit.
transfer are most likely made in the given below cities as per the requirements:

CAGs’ Offices:

Andhra Pradesh	Maharashtra
Arunachal Pradesh	Manipur
Assam	Meghalaya
Bihar	Mizoram
Chhattisgarh	Nagaland

Career Path/Promotion:

Assistant Audit Officer (Gp 4800)	You Start Here
Audit Officer (GP 5400, PS 9300-34800)	6-10 Years (Avg 7 yrs)
Sr. Audit Officer (GP 5400, PS 15600-39100)	2-4 Years (Avg 3 yrs)
Deputy Accountant General (GP 6600)	-
Sr. Deputy Accountant General (GP-7600)	-

Downside: An Assistant Audit Officer (AAO) manages only 3-4 promotions throughout his career. Despite joining at a Grade Pay 4800, one manages to reach only Grade Pay 7600. While an ASO in CSS, joins at GP 4600 and retires at GP 8700.

Pros:

• Highest paying Job thorugh SSC CGL.
• The only post in SSC CGL that directly makes you a Gazetted Officer.
• Social Status: You will be respected by your friends, relatives and people you meet in day to day life. You will be respected and feared whenever you go to an organisation for an Audit.
• Will get to learn many new things regarding taxation, accountancy, commerce etc.
• Get to meet a lot of people and have wonderful experiences.
• It is a powerful post as far as financial matters are concerned., people will come to you to get their Bills cleared and may offer you know what.
• Stability: Transfers are not that frequent and you enjoy a stable life.
• Work-Life Balance: Working hours are fixed 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM. The workload is not much and you get enough time for family and further exam preparation.

Cons:

• SAS (Subordinate Audit/Accounts Service) Exam: One has to clear this Exam and it is relatively difficult to crack. More about this is given below separately.
• Promotions are not that fast and one can manage only 3-4 promotions which is very low for a GP 4800 Post.
• One has to prepare for an additional exam i.e Tier II Paper- IV – General Studies (Finance & Economics) carrying 200 Marks.

SAS Exam:

• Computerized Objective type tests in around 9-10 Subjects such as Constitution, Accountancy, Taxation, Information Technology, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Govt Rules, Financial Rules etc.
• One has to clear this exam in max 6 attempts.
• If one doesn’t clear this exam within limited attempts he is demoted from Assistant Audit Officer to Auditor.
• Relatively easier to crack for a person possessing Qualification like Chartered Accountant, Cost Accountant etc.

We hope we have provided all the sufficient information which will surely clear all your doubts regarding Assistant Audit Officer in CAG post offered under SSC CGL Exam.

Hey Guys...Here I am Sharing A Experience of A Person Malaikolundu Kuppuswamy Retired as Senior Audit Officer in PAG, Chennai,Tamil Nadu under CAG of India. which I found on quora and written by him.

I worked as AAO the office of the Principal Accountant General, Tamil Nadu& Puducherry under the CAG of India for about 20 years and AO/SAO for another 10 years. Finally retired as the Secretary to the Principal Accountant General in 2015. The knowledge that we acquire during the course of the job is really phenomenal. One can understand the entire governance structure of both the Govt. of India & the States. I had worked as AAO in the audit of the depts like Revenue, Police,Fire services, Agriculture, Health, transport, education, district & Taluk offices, Sales tax and Rural & Urban development, Customs, Central Excise & Service tax department audits. As AO/SAO, I was in the audit of departments of Public Works, Irrigation, Forest, Water Supply & Public Health Engineering. I was also on deputation to one of the Public utility Board as its Head of Internal Audit operations.The experience gained during my service is immense. Generally no other Govt department offers such varied knowledge level. As AAO/SAO, We used to interact with top Administrators like Group I officers, IAS, IPS & other Central Civil Service officers like IRS, (IT, C&CE), Sales Tax officials, Central Excise,Customs & Service Tax officials and Engineers right from Asst Engineer to Engineering Director.One has to equip himself with relevant domain knowledge to counter the departmental officials view when the Audit raised an audit memo or an issue. It is very difficult to properly frame an inspection report with out deep knowledge on subject. One has to constantly update the knowledge & learn new developments. Generally, Independent articulation of views on the subject is encouraged & accepted as norm unlike other Govt. departments. If your opinions & views are not accepted, you can approach Principal Accountant General & represent your views and if your views are right, they are accepted.These are positives in the Indian Audit Department.

Now negatives of the India Audit Department.

Promotion opportunities are very limited.I had completed almost 37 years in the audit department. Out of which,I had worked as AAO for 20 years and AO/SAO for another 10 years after passing SAS Examination. My friends & College mates who joined in the State Government departments in a similar position as mine had become Joint Secretary level officers & those with Central Govt. Departments like Income tax, Central Excise had been elevated to IRS. We in Audit Department ended up as SAO only.

Audit involves a lot of touring through out the year. HQrs level positions are limited. Women, officers with health issues are given preference. Hence your chance of being in HQrs & joy of living with your family would be almost very much limited though not impossible.This very much affects work life balance. You can not look after your children & parents. Your spouse has to necessarily take additional responsibilities to see your children education & health of elderly in the family. As you are always on tour, you can not have the luxury of attending the family functions. Travel all the time by bus or train, booking tickets,reservations all through the year are worst part of the job.

In my days with the audit department, Touring allowance & Hotel accommodation are very meagre which will not ensure a decent stay & food commensurate with the risks involved to the health. Now from 2008 onwards after pay commission, that was rectified & Tour allowances are decent.

Another problem is food. You may not get the hygienic food in most places. Non vegetarian officers may somehow manage. The plight of vegetarian officers is pathetic. I had somehow managed the problems with eating only vegetarian food, though myself a non vegetarian, fruits & bread as breakfast, light vegetarian lunch and for dinner two chappathis with bananas. Many of my colleagues developed health issues.

I had my entire service in Tamil Nadu which is comparatively well developed, good road network of national & State Highways, good transport network through out the day & night & a better than average railway network. Tamil Nadu being one of the most urbanised state, we used to get decent hotels to stay and restaurants to eat. Some of my colleagues in other states are not that much fortunate to have such facilities.

I have successfully completed my service & retired as SAO in one of the affiliated office of the CAG of India.

These are my views on the working conditions in the audit department based on my experience.Thank you for asking the question.

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