How audit firms can take advantage of reimagined efficiencies through automated bank confirmations

Auditors no longer have to rely on outdated confirmation methodologies

 “At the start of my career, everything (processing bank confirmations) had to be paper, then you mailed it, and then it never came back...” explains Wolters Kluwer customer Melissa Knox, Partner & Audit Director at JC CPAs and Advisors, LLC. Thankfully the days of pen and paper confirmations (should) have come and gone for auditors. Today’s main and most used method is provided by means of a digital bank confirmation tool where auditors can request the client’s needed bank information electronically with the client’s bank. 

However, auditors don’t know if the bank is going to able to confirm what they are requesting, even with the digital tools that are available today. As detailed further by Melissa: “Sometimes you don’t know whether the bank is going to do it or not (providing the information you need). Banks have limitations on what they will or won’t be able to confirm through confirmation.com, even if they accept confirmation.com…” 

The result is that auditors often have to queue up in line and wait for information to be returned, if at all, without an estimated wait time. This can become enormously taxing when an important deadline is approaching during busy season. Additionally, the information may be returned erroneously due to manual data entry and human error earlier in the process. If an auditor sets up the client’s bank account incorrectly, the process starts over again to obtain the correct information. Overall, the bank confirmation process can be frustratingly slow, time-consuming, and thus cost inefficient.

Broad-based open banking technology provides direct authorized access to a client's bank account

New, modern, ground-breaking technology offers new possibilities to fix an outdated process. With the use of consent, broad-based open banking technology provides the ability to gain direct access (client-authorized only) to a client’s bank account. With a solution like CCH Axcess Validate, the auditor can request single account balances or transactions as before, but also entire and multiple bank statements by means of one single request. The data is returned via the cloud using data encryption for the highest levels of security. Automated bank confirmations prevent auditors from having to wait in line with their client’s bank for the required information to be returned, and it eliminates frustrating and error-prone manual data entry. Having to enter 8-to-12-digit account numbers is now a thing of the past.

Additionally, as Joey Fletcher – CPA and Partner at Harper, Rains, Knight & Co. describes “the most important thing is being compliant with standards. We have to confirm, so we confirm. And using a product like CCH Axcess Validate gives us the comfort that the numbers are what they are.” Every confirmation through CCH Axcess Validate is returned with a digital SSL certification that essentially delivers a verified audit trail to satisfy SOC 1 and SOC 2 Security Compliance Certification and regulations. This provides auditors with the comfort of providing fully compliant and certified bank confirmations as part of the audit engagement.

Audit bank confirmations no longer have to be a time-consuming, risky and error-prone endeavor

Automated bank confirmations through a solution like CCH Axcess Validate make a small part of the overall audit engagement speedy and efficient, saving auditors time and cost which in the end benefits clients and opens room for growth, client care and satisfaction.

The whitepaper “How Automated Bank Confirmations Increase Efficiency” features inside information about the newest technology for bank confirmations from industry experts and pioneers including:

• Cathy Rowe, Senior Vice President and Segment Leader, Professional Market, Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting North America
• Dave Malone, Co-Founder of confirmation.com and Fintech executive
• Per Jirstrand, CEO and Co-Founder of DIRO

To learn more, download the whitepaper, “How Automated Bank Confirmations Increase Efficiency” to discover expert insights and new strategies for optimizing your audit workflow.