As part on Internal Audit Awareness Month, we’re highlighting why audit is still the best job in the world.
We’re continuing our “Meet the Auditor” series by spotlighting the people behind the profession – the individuals helping organisations strengthen governance, manage risk, and navigate increasingly complex business environments.
Meet the Auditor: Nelia Becker
For this feature, we spoke to Nelia Becker, Client Partner at SurTech, about the unexpected path that led her into audit, the importance of people skills in modern assurance, and why audit might just be one of the most interesting careers in the world.
Tell us about your role at SurTech.
I’m a Client Partner focused on South African private-sector clients, and my main responsibility is ensuring that organisations get value from the investment they’ve made in the Diligent One platform.
What inspired you to pursue a career in internal auditing?
The old PwC building across from Menlyn Shopping Centre in Pretoria. As a child, I thought it was just beautiful, and I wanted to work there. Great way to pick what you want to do for a living, but, hey, a dream was born. I got to attend some training and meetings in that building while I was at PwC but I worked out of the Sunninghill office, which was just as beautiful.
What skills are most important for modern auditors?
The ability to adapt to change and learn new things, but most important is people skills. You deal with people almost every day — from your team members to people at every level within the business.
What’s the most auditor thing about you outside of work?
When my husband and I watch movies where something goes wrong, we almost always end up discussing the controls that failed or were not in place. Only picked up that we were doing it a few years ago, and I cannot help but smile when it happens now. Jurassic Park Management is welcome to give us a call.
What phrase does every auditor hear weekly?
“Complete your timesheets!”
Ask any auditor you know about timesheets, and they can complain for an hour straight about them.
“Complete your time sheets!” – A phrase every auditor hears weekly
What’s the green flag that tells you an organisation takes governance seriously?
When it comes to discussing the audit report, Management is not just fighting you on finding ratings and wanting findings to disappear, but genuinely wants to fix what went wrong.
Tell us why audit is still the best job in the world.
Audit is one of only a few professions where you get to experience someone else’s profession for a short while. I’ve spent a day with a NICU nurse to understand how patients are moved and tracked in a hospital, been in a baby formula factory covered from head to toe in safety gear, seen how paint rollers and brooms are made, and ran around the top of a silo. These are all things that a hundred other careers would never have exposed me to.
Yes, not all processes are cool, fun, or even clean. The hours can be brutal, and not everybody is always happy to see you – but I’ve met some of the coolest people and made fantastic friends while in the trenches.
If given the choice, I would do it all again because I absolutely love my job.
What’s Next?
As Internal Audit Awareness Month continues, stories like Nelia’s remind us that audit is far more than checklists and controls – it’s a career built on curiosity, adaptability, relationships, and continuous learning.
At SurTech, we’re proud to work alongside professionals who bring both expertise and personality to the evolving world of governance, risk, and audit.
