Difficultés 

Comme de nombreuses autres firmes qui utilisent des procédures de confirmations d'audit sur papier, elle considère le risque d'erreur humaine comme un problème potentiel. Les erreurs humaines peuvent se glisser dans la procédure de préparation des formulaires de confirmation et peuvent être également faites par l'individu désigné pour effectuer la confirmation. The process grows longer when a second confirmation needs to correct or follow up on an apparent incorrect address or account balance. Further, the process of preparing and sending paper confirmations is a time-consuming process to manage. Ensuring the confirmations are prepared correctly, and sent and received in a timely fashion require precious billable hours that could be better spent on performing the audit. Comme de nombreuses autres firmes qui souhaitent économiser du temps et réduire leurs frais, elle utiliserait volontiers une solution simple et rentable pour réduire les risques d'erreur humaine.

Solution

The firm now uses Confirmation to simplify their audit process and to get quicker confirmation responses from banks and other financial institutions. Confirmation is a secure web-based service that can be used to confirm cash, term loan balances, lines-of-credit balances, investment accounts, accounts receivable, accounts payable and much more (30+ different types of confirmation requests are supported).

Confirmation has significantly helped our firm's audit process because it provides faster responses from banks and other financial institutions. Confirmation has also allowed for more accurate responses, reducing some of the errors we have experienced in the past.

Andrew R. Nelson, CPA, Assurance, Schaffner, Knight, Minnaugh & Company, P.C.

Avantages

• Saves time, reduces human error while providing a more secure process to confirm balances
• Allows the audit team to prepare and send confirmations during the planning stage of the audit
• Reduces administrative costs for the firm and the client

Schaffner, Knight, Minnaugh & Company, P.C., takes pride in being a progressive, forward-thinking firm that is continually on the lookout for smarter, more efficient ways to service their clients' needs, while running their firm more efficiently and profitably. When one of their client's larger banks switched to electronic confirmations, it was a natural fit for the firm's audit staff to take advantage of the unique benefits of using Confirmation - a secure online audit confirmation tool.

Reduces Human Error

The firm's audit staff currently uses Confirmation to send audit confirmation requests to banking institutions that are taking advantage of electronic confirmations. Andrew R. Nelson, a CPA at the firm, noted that Confirmation "has significantly helped our firm's audit process because it provides faster responses from banks and other financial institutions. Confirmation has also allowed for more accurate responses, reducing some of the errors that we have experienced in the past."

As an example, Andy said, "We would sometimes run into issues in which banks would confirm the wrong date or balance, or the confirmation would be sent to the local bank rather than the department established to answer the confirmations. We would then be required to follow up with the bank, resend the updated confirmation and wait for a response. Confirmation has helped to limit these types of errors and inefficiencies."

Increases Staff Efficiency

Confirmation also improved the firm's audit process. Andy commented that Confirmation "has improved our audit planning procedures. We now initiate confirmations during the planning phase of our audits compared to waiting to prepare and send at year-end as in prior years. Cela nous a aidé à améliorer l'efficacité de nos missions d'audit ».

Prior to using Confirmation, their auditors would attempt to prepare the confirmation during planning procedures but would then wait to mail them out until year-end hoping to get the best and most accurate response from banks and other financial institutions. L'équipe d'audit devait s'assurer que quelqu'un serait bien présent au bureau pour recevoir et renvoyer le courrier. "If there were any discrepancies on the confirmations, a team member would need to follow up with the bank, requiring more time consumed during the audit. Dans le cas des confirmations de trésorerie sur papier, il pouvait y avoir quelques confusions, et les banques fournissaient un solde en fonction de la date de réception de la confirmation et non pas de la date de fin d'année. Nous devions alors renvoyer la demande de confirmation par courrier et attendre une seconde réponse » ajoute Andy.

Saves Your Staff Time

Before Confirmation, Andy estimated he could easily spend two to three hours preparing confirmations for each client. But after Confirmation, Andy estimated he spends no more than "one hour maximum per client, saving about 50 percent of our time." That's 50 percent of precious billable hours recovered for higher-valued client work. Little things that make life easier.

Certains petit détails font toute la différence en matière de productivité. For example, here's a neat little feature of Confirmation that helps Andy save time and perform his job more efficiently: "By moving the mouse cursor next to the client name, you can instantly see how many confirmations are confirmed, still pending, have been denied or need more information. Vous pouvez ainsi voir en un simple coup d'œil le statut de vos confirmations et savoir combien de confirmations vous attendez, pour prévoir en conséquence. Cette fonction est vraiment pratique ».

Another nice feature is the confirmation log: "Having that available is very useful, too, as opposed to an administrative person checking paper folders and scanning paper confirmations as they are received … and then updating the separate confirm controls. Parfois, ce sont les choses les plus simples qui facilitent vraiment le travail et nous rendent plus efficaces ».

Andy apprécie également le fait que « nous pouvons préparer les confirmations à l'avance et les placer dans une file d'attente jusqu'à la date spécifique où elles seront envoyées, et pas besoin d'y revenir. Confirmation has really saved us a lot of time."

Reduces Costs

On a case-by-case basis, the firm decides whether to pass the costs of using Confirmation onto their clients. In either case, the ROI of using the service and the billable hours recovered make Confirmation worth every penny. Andy déclare : « Je n'ai aucun retour négatif de la part de nos clients, car pour eux le coût est minimum et le processus efficace. Et ils apprécient le fait que ce soit plus sécurisé que d'envoyer des confirmations papier par courrier ».

To sum up his experience using Confirmation, Andy said that it is a “very handy tool to use that saves you time in the confirmation process.”

About Schaffner, Knight, Minnaugh & Company, P.C.

Founded in 1995, the firm currently has eight partners with offices in Erie, PA, and Jamestown, NY. Since its inception, the firm has held a consistent record of delivering superior customer solutions to owner-operated businesses. The firm serves clients in manufacturing, construction, retail, professional service organizations, wholesalers and auto dealerships.