EPSO Auditors study guide
EPSO Auditors · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The EPSO Auditors competition is the EU's selection process for recruiting auditors to work in the institutions and bodies of the European Union. It is aimed at graduates with a background in audit, accounting, finance or a closely related field who want a career as an EU official rather than a career in a national firm or ministry. Because EPSO competitions are organised per profile and per language regime, candidates should treat the auditors competition as a distinct process with its own eligibility conditions, its own test battery and its own reserve list, not as a generic entry route into the institutions. The examination itself is expected to test four broad areas: audit methodology and professional standards; accounting and financial reporting, including the accrual-based framework used by the EU; EU law and policies, with emphasis on the financial rules and the legal framework governing budget execution and control; and the general reasoning skills - verbal, numerical and abstract - used as an initial screening filter. The EPSO Auditors study guide has 4 sections and about 1,897 words.
01Audit
The Audit domain tests whether you can apply risk-based assurance methodology in an EU public-sector setting. Questions combine the vocabulary of international auditing standards with the INTOSAI framework (ISSAI 100–400) used by the European Court of Auditors, and with the EU budgetary cycle: statement of assurance, legality and regularity, and sound financial management.
479 words, about 2 min02Accounting and financial reporting
The Accounting and financial reporting domain tests accrual-based reporting: the IASB conceptual framework, the IFRS standards most used in EU reporting, and the EU's own accrual accounting under the Financial Regulation. Expect recognition, measurement and disclosure questions, plus consolidation and the distinction between budgetary and accrual figures.
488 words, about 2 min03EU law and policies
The EU law and policies domain tests the constitutional framework of the Union, the legal effects of its instruments, the budgetary and accountability architecture, and the policy vocabulary that auditor candidates meet in EU documents. Primary law: TEU, TFEU and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which has the same legal value as the Treaties (Art.
482 words, about 2 min04Verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning
This domain is scored separately and rewards method rather than general intelligence. Verbal items test precise reading, numerical items test clean arithmetic on data, abstract items test rule detection.
448 words, about 2 min