Desafío 

Al igual que muchas firmas que llevan a cabo las verificaciones de auditoría en papel, el riesgo de errores humanos es un problema potencial. Los errores humanos ocurren durante la preparación de los formularios de verificación, y también los cometen los individuos encargados de completar el proceso de verificación. 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. Al igual que otras firmas que buscan ahorrar tiempo y reducir costos, cualquier solución simple y asequible que ayude a disminuir el riesgo de errores humanos sería más que bienvenida por la firma.

Solución

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.

Beneficios

• 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. Esto ha contribuido a aumentar la eficiencia en nuestros diferentes compromisos de auditoría".

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. El equipo de auditoría tenía que asegurarse de que hubiera alguien en la oficina para recibir y enviar el correo postal. "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. Con las verificaciones de efectivo en papel, a veces se generaba confusión en los bancos y enviaban el saldo correspondiente a la fecha de recepción de la verificación, en lugar de hacerlo en función de la fecha de fin de año. Entonces, teníamos que volver a enviar la solicitud de verificación por correo postal y esperar por una segunda respuesta", dijo 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.

A veces, los pequeños cambios pueden marcar una gran diferencia en la productividad. 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. Le ofrece un pantallazo rápido del estado de sus verificaciones, de modo que uno sabe cuántas se deben esperar y puede planificar en función de ello. Esa función es muy útil".

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. A veces, son las cosas más simples las que hacen que nuestro trabajo resulte más sencillo y eficiente".

Otra excelente función que a Andy le gusta es que "uno puede preparar la verificación por adelantado, ponerla en espera para enviarla en una fecha específica y no tener que volver a pensar en el asunto. 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 manifestaba: "No he escuchado que nuestros clientes hayan hecho comentarios negativos porque el costo es mínimo y para ellos el proceso también se traduce en eficiencia. Además, también les agrada que sea más seguro que enviar las verificaciones en papel por correo postal".

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.