Greg Shelton, CPA, is a sole practitioner in Bartlett, Tennessee. Tiene cuatro clientes de auditoría y envía aproximadamente 20 verificaciones por año. He has been an auditor for 25 years and was one of the first users of Confirmation's digital platform. Cuando decidió abandonar el papel, se sorprendió porque era el único profesional independiente o firma local pequeña que figuraba en la lista de usuarios. 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. "Detesto esperar entre tres y cuatro semanas para que el banco envíe una verificación. Me gusta hacerlo ya, de una vez. 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. Obtener esta información es crucial, especialmente cuando se auditan empresas pequeñas en las que muchas veces el pasivo no aparece en los libros.

"Hubo veces en las que uno sacó un préstamo para comprar equipos y el efectivo nunca pasó por la compañía. 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. "Una vez superada la primera, es muy sencillo", dice. "Es realmente algo muy fácil".

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 lo ve aparecer en e-Bay, sabrá por qué.