By Adam Turteltaub

Jeff Williams works now as a compliance director, but before that, he had been working in accounting with experience in external audit. He was no stranger to the world of compliance, but, as he notes, there’s a huge difference once you move into the role.

In this podcast he shares his experience and what an accountant or auditor considering a role in compliance should know. Listen in as he discusses the working understanding he had of compliance going in.  He rightly understood the job to be about creating internal controls, managing risk, teaching the workforce, building trust and serving as a go-to resource.  Once he got into the job, though, he was met by some surprises, including how dreaded an appearance from the compliance officer could be.

He addresses how he learned the new role, and how it’s important to make sure others understand that compliance officers are human beings who are there to listen to and support the business team.

From a skills perspective, he shares that an accounting background is a great asset since it provides experience in looking for consistency in controls and understanding what the controls to be.

But, there are adjustments to be made such as working on a much smaller team.

This podcast is a valuable asset for anyone from accounting looking to make the leap into compliance, and for compliance officers adding someone with an accounting or audit background to their team.