Greg Shelton, CPA, is a sole practitioner in Bartlett, Tennessee. Il a quatre clients d'audit et envoie quelque 20 confirmations chaque année. He has been an auditor for 25 years and was one of the first users of Confirmation's digital platform. Lorsqu'il a opté pour les confirmations électroniques, il a été surpris de constater qu'il était le seul indépendant ou petit cabinet sur la liste des utilisateurs. But the advantages of using electronic confirmations can be realized by any firm, regardless of its size.

Just get it done

Shelton immediately recognized the benefits of making the switch from paper to electronic confirmations. « Je n'aime pas attendre trois ou quatre semaines pour obtenir la confirmation d'une banque. J'aime que les choses soient faites vite et bien. Now I can get a confirmation returned from the bank before I even start fieldwork," says Shelton.

Once a company is set up on the Confirmation system, sending confirmations in subsequent years is a five-minute task: change the date and the auditor is done with a single click of the mouse.

Confirming liabilities

Shelton is quick to point out that a standard bank confirmation does more than simply confirm bank balances; it also gathers information about loans, letters of credit, and other liabilities. L'obtention de ces informations est essentielle, surtout dans le cas d'audits de petites entreprises pour lesquelles il est fréquent que des engagements financiers n'apparaissent pas dans les livres de compte.

« Il arrive parfois qu'un prêt ait été accordé pour financer l'achat d'équipements mais que l'argent ne soit simplement jamais passé par l'entreprise. Or the company got a line of credit and the owner took a draw directly that was never recorded on the company's books," says Shelton. Using Confirmation allows the auditor to identify those unrecorded liabilities immediately, rather than waiting several weeks (sometimes after the conclusion of fieldwork) to receive a paper confirmation.

Pass through the cost

Shelton passes through the cost of the Confirmation service directly to his clients. Even though his clients are billed about $100 on each audit, overall they end up saving money because Shelton spends essentially no time on the confirmation effort. "It's a win-win situation because it saves money for the client and improves efficiency for my business," he says.

A no-brainer

Shelton is sold on electronic confirmations. Like anything else, there's a learning curve, but with electronic confirmations that curve is minimal. « Une fois que vous avez réussi votre première confirmation, ça devient très facile », déclare-t-il. « C'est vraiment simple comme bonjour ».

There's only one downside to his switch to Confirmation. Shelton has a stack of paper bank confirmations he ordered eight years ago taking up space in his storage cabinet. Si vous les voyez en vente sur eBay, vous saurez pourquoi.