Salary-benchmarking site, Emolument.com, analysed 1,400 London salary entries from professionals working as auditors and accountants and found that, except for high level external accountants, auditors had a higher salary.

External accountants with six to eight years’ experience have an average salary of £57,000, compared to external auditors, at the same level, that earn £55,000 per year.

However, at entry level, auditors working internally or externally have an average salary of £32,000 - £36,000, whereas accountants earn £26,000 - £28,000.

After individuals gain their qualifications and become certified auditors and accountants, the auditing profession still continues to pay more. An auditor with three to five years of experience earns £46,000 - £54,000, compared to an accountant that earns £41,000 - £43,000.

The report also discovered that within audit, internal auditors are paid more than external auditors as the chart below shows: 

When starting out, the Big Four firms tend to pay slightly less than smaller practices however, the mentoring, training processes and professional network they provide can be worth more than money in the long term.