Over the following decades, boards of auditors were appointed by the North Carolina General Assembly and the King of England's comptrollers to attend to matters in various localities as stipulated by the English crown.

In 1782 the General Assembly appointed Richard Caswell as the Comptroller of the State of North Carolina, responsible for the maintenance of public accounts.

[1] In 1862 the General Assembly altered the previous system by establishing the Office of Auditor of Public Accounts,[1] who was to be elected every two years by the legislature.

[1] In 1955 the assembly transferred the general accounting duties and responsibility for treasury disbursement warrants to the Budget Bureau.

[1][2] In 1971 North Carolina adopted a new constitution which altered the office little, though the Executive Organization Act of 1971 created the Department of State Auditor.

[5] In 2024 the Assembly assigned the auditor the responsibility of appointing the members of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, effective May 2025.

[16] Article III, Section 7, of the Constitution of North Carolina stipulates the popular election of the state auditor every four years.

[17] Unlike most of the 18 other states with an elected auditor, North Carolina does not require candidates for the office to be Certified Public Accountants.

[17] The auditor is ex officio a member of the Local Government Commission,[19] the Capital Facilities Finance Agency, the Debt Affordability Advisory Committee, and several other bodies.

[2] The former division is led by the state auditor's chief deputy and handles administrative concerns including personnel matters, internal budgeting and procurement, and intra-department coordination.

[16] The auditor is empowered to summon people to produce records and answer questions under oath,[31] but does not have law enforcement powers and cannot bring criminal charges against individuals.

[31] The auditor can request advisory opinions on legal matters from the North Carolina attorney general.