Laura Bennett
Senior Auditor, CPA · Chicago, IL
Summary
CPA with 6 years in external and internal audit across manufacturing and financial services clients. Leads fieldwork for engagements of up to $400M in revenue, owns SOX 404 testing for 40+ key controls, and has cut prior-year audit hours by 18% by rebuilding sampling and workpaper templates.
Experience
Senior Auditor, Hartwell & Price LLP
Jul 2022 – Present
Chicago, IL
- Run fieldwork on 5 annual audits for private and public clients with $50M-$400M in revenue, supervising teams of 3-4 staff auditors.
- Plan and test SOX 404 controls over revenue, inventory and procure-to-pay; documented 14 control deficiencies, 2 escalated to significant deficiency.
- Rebuilt the firm's inventory count and sampling templates in Excel and IDEA, reducing engagement hours by 18% with no change in review notes.
- Present findings and management letter points to client CFOs and audit committees; 90% of recommendations adopted within the next fiscal year.
Staff Auditor, Hartwell & Price LLP
Sep 2019 – Jun 2022
Chicago, IL
- Performed substantive testing on cash, receivables, fixed assets and accruals for 12 engagements under GAAS and PCAOB standards.
- Prepared lead sheets, tie-outs and confirmations in CaseWare, keeping a review-note rate below the team average for 3 busy seasons.
- Identified a $1.2M revenue cut-off error during year-end testing, leading to an audit adjustment before the financial statements were issued.
Skills
GAAP and GAAS · SOX 404 controls testing · PCAOB standards · Risk assessment · Audit sampling · CaseWare · IDEA data analytics · Advanced Excel · Workpaper review · Audit committee reporting
Education
B.S. in Accounting, University of Illinois Chicago, 2019
Certifications
- Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Illinois
- Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), in progress