Twenty-three debtor letters and a spreadsheet
The audit senior has selected a sample of debtors for confirmation. Letters are prepared, signed by the client, and sent. Bank confirmations are requested through the banks' own route. A letter goes to the client's lawyers. All of it is tracked in a spreadsheet the senior keeps on their laptop.
Two weeks later, the senior is moved to another job. The spreadsheet shows eight replies, a few with notes. The replacement does not know which of the others were chased, which came back by email to the client instead, and which were returned undelivered.
Confirmations run on other people's timetables
Confirmations depend on third parties who have no interest in the audit timetable. Replies come by post, email, portal and occasionally via the client, which the team then has to consider. Every route needs its own tracking.
Audit software records the conclusion but is often weak on the logistics: who was sent what, when it was chased, what came back. That logistics layer ends up in personal spreadsheets, which do not survive staff changes and are hard for managers to review.
Timing adds pressure. Confirmations have to be sent early enough to come back before the reporting deadline, but the sample often cannot be chosen until the client's records are available, which leaves little room for slow replies.
What loose tracking costs
| Problem | Effect |
|---|---|
| Tracking in personal spreadsheets | Lost when staff move between jobs |
| Chasers not sent | Replies arrive late or not at all |
| Replies via the client | Extra work to consider how they arrived |
| Differences not followed up | Open points found at review |
| No manager view | Outstanding confirmations surface near the deadline |
Reviewers feel it too. When the file reaches the manager or partner, they want to see that every confirmation was followed through. A personal spreadsheet on someone's laptop does not give them that assurance without a conversation.
How we build confirmation tracking
- For each engagement, the team records every confirmation to be sent: type, recipient, contact details and how the details were obtained and checked, in line with your firm's methodology.
- Requests are produced from your firm's templates, and for routes such as bank confirmation platforms, the tracker records the reference from that platform rather than duplicating it.
- Each request has a sent date and chasers on the schedule your firm sets, with reminders to the team member responsible.
- Replies are logged with how and when they arrived, attached to the request, and any difference from the client's records is recorded for follow-up.
- The engagement manager sees a dashboard of confirmations by status, and anything outstanding close to the reporting timetable is flagged.
- The completed log can be exported to your audit software or file, so the logistics record sits with the working papers.
What to confirm, how to select and what to conclude are audit judgements for your team under your methodology. The tracker handles logistics and record.
Confirmations everyone can see
Anyone on the engagement can see what has been sent, chased and received. Staff changes do not lose the trail. Differences are followed up because they are listed. Managers see outstanding items early, and the record of the process is complete for review.
Seniors moving between engagements hand over a clean list instead of a personal spreadsheet, and the incoming team member can pick up the chasing on the same day.
Does your audit team track like this?
- Confirmations are tracked in personal spreadsheets
- Chasers depend on someone remembering
- Replies come by post, email and via the client
- Differences are found late in the review
- Managers ask for status updates on confirmations