It’s no secret that audit firms can no longer rely on dated, manual, and siloed processes if they want to remain competitive. The 2023 State of the Tax Professionals Report shows that improving client service and increasing efficiency are the most important strategic priorities for audit firms this year. The report also shows that growth as a priority rose by four percentage points (from 26% to 30%) in 2023.  

Cloud-based, end-to-end audit solutions have become critical enablers of growth by helping companies accelerate the audit process while providing secure access to audit data. Yet as many firms deal with serious labour shortages, maintaining and accelerating growth becomes unfeasible without the help of transformative digital solutions. 

The Role of APIs in Driving Audit Transformation 

The most competitive firms have begun leveraging Application Programming Interfaces (API) as part of their audit technology strategies. APIs can automate time consuming tasks and accelerate efficiencies, freeing up time for auditors to provide higher value services for their customers. These firms are propelling their advisory services to the forefront and outmanoeuvring competitors – all without expanding their workforce.  And data shows, audit firms that provide customers value through advisory services increase revenues by a remarkable 25% compared to their counterparts. 

Automating key audit processes, like audit confirmations, with APIs makes it easier to: 

• Download data into work papers 
• Track the progress of clients’ audit confirmation engagements 
• Automate reconciliation of confirmation fees 
• Increase information accuracy, reliability, and security 
• Build a flexible and scalable automation ecosystem 

There is a tremendous opportunity for audit firms to realise value through APIs. Hear from Confirmation experts, Tony Ventura and Ashwin Sharma on 18 October, 2023, to learn how proven APIs have begun transforming some of the largest audit firms across APAC for the better. 

Can’t join the live event? Register anyway and we’ll send you the recording after the event.   

The post API Automation is Transforming the Audit Landscape – Are You Ready?  appeared first on Confirmation.

Confirmation Territory Manager for Northeast Asia, Polly Lok, shares her thoughts on this changing landscape and how audit firms can navigate these shifts. 

Can you introduce yourself and share what sparked your interest in ESG?  

Polly Lok: My passion for ESG goes beyond mere rhetoric; it is about embodying sustainability in every aspect of everyday life. My mindset was shaped by a valuable lesson from one of my professors, who emphasised that sustainability should not just happen when you mention ‘sustainability’, it should permeate our actions and decisions at all times. 

I pursued Environmental Management and Technology at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology followed by an esteemed exchange program at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, recognised for its exemplary sustainable practices. Throughout my university years, I was also involved in an air quality project for Hong Kong public transport. 

How is ESG creating more opportunities for accounting firms? 

Polly Lok: Audit firms are expanding their services to help clients prepare ESG offerings including supporting them with data, assurance and ESG-related tax optimisation strategies to help them stay competitive and compliant. 

What are some of the barriers facing audit firms when it comes to implementing ESG practices? 

Polly Lok: One barrier is the structure of audit and accounting firms. Most operate as partnerships. In partnerships, gaining consensus to start and sustain an initiative can become challenging if stakeholders change. This can quickly become a barrier to advancing ESG initiatives because ESG is a long-term investment and takes time to realise return on investment.  

Secondly, maintaining and monitoring ESG plans can become difficult in partnerships. The decision-making processes are often more complex, especially for larger firms, and ownership of ESG initiatives can become unclear. Thus, identifying the correct stakeholders who will passionately drive these initiatives becomes crucial. 

Thirdly, paper-based processes impact the capabilities of accounting firms to implement ESG practices. It is almost ironic that we are trying to drive sustainability and environmental consciousness with dated, manual processes. We know paper-based processes have a negative impact on the environment, but they’re also time consuming, tedious and waste precious talent and intellectual capital. 

What are some quick ways audit firms can overcome these challenges? 

Polly Lok: Accounting firms must change the ‘don’t fix what’s not broken’ mentality.  Today, ESG presents an opportunity to expand service offerings proactively. Data shows that clients care about ESG performance and are prepared to divest from companies with poor environmental track records.  

Regulatory requirements are evolving in a way that makes digital transformation a requirement, not a choice. Firstly, firms need to look at existing processes and identify simple processes that can be quickly optimised for speed and efficiency. For example, making processes like audit confirmations paperless. 

Secondly, communicate the importance of ESG across the organisation. Establishing ESG priorities will change some processes. As such, showing how ESG will benefit and having clear change management policies in place can help ensure ESG adoption. 

Thirdly, make ESG goals measurable and establish clear metrics to monitor, measure and reward progress. 

Overall, when asked about how to initiate an ESG journey, I always advise starting small rather than immediately adopting a comprehensive framework, as it can feel overwhelming. One practical example is to examine paper consumption. Surprisingly, many organisations I’ve spoken to are unaware of the volume of letter or paper confirmations they generate, let alone their overall paper usage. Reducing paper consumption presents a simple yet impactful first step, often considered a low-hanging fruit in the pursuit of sustainability. 

How can the next generation of auditors champion a transition towards a more sustainable future? 

Polly Lok: We need the next generation of auditors to bring innovative mindsets and be confident and forthcoming with their ideas. We need them to believe that they are not just executors. Next-gen auditors can fundamentally change the way the system has been working just by being more curious and by asking firms to adopt technology to become more data-driven. 

Audit firms must now shoulder the responsibility of championing sustainable practices to attract this new, digitally-savvy and environmentally conscious workforce. 

Why does navigating this ESG landscape need a technology backbone? 

Polly Lok: Because we need things to change and move faster. ESG is changing very fast, and regulatory changes are moving towards global standardisations. You cannot thrive in this economy without technology. However, it’s not an all-or-nothing game. Technology and digital applications can help firms and next-gen auditors improve workflows and processes and make them faster and more sustainable. This is a good place to start. 

We must now move from paper-heavy to digitally transformed processes and adopt technology that can connect teams and make work simpler. The pace of ESG evolution will soon demand integrating regulatory requirements regarding sustainability into the clients’ organisational frameworks. If we are going to recommend this to our clients, we need to do the same for ourselves to remain competitive, deliver better value to clients, and attract and retain a talented workforce. 

The post The ESG Impact on Audit Firms: An Interview with Polly Lok appeared first on Confirmation.

Research estimates 20.8% of retail purchases are expected to take place online in 2023. As more consumers and businesses adopt digital transactions, leveraging the right technologies becomes crucial for banks eager to stay relevant. The rise of the digitally savvy consumer, proliferation of technology, extreme market volatility, and complex and fast-evolving regulatory frameworks are also putting pressure on banks to become more nimble and agile.   

The Future of Customer Experience and the Changing Face of Banking 

Customer experience can be a powerful competitive differentiator. Research shows that improving customer experience can improve overall shareholder value by seven to ten percent. 2023 customer expectation trends for digital banking experiences highlight: 

• 72% of customers want immediate service, 
• 70% expect anyone they interact with to have full context, 
• 62% think experiences should flow naturally between both physical and digital spaces, 
• 62% agree that personalised recommendations are better than general ones. 

Today’s bank customers understand what makes an outstanding digital customer experience thanks to companies like Apple, Amazon and Netflix. Banks are no longer competing against each other in the minds of their customers, they’re competing against the best digital experience their customers have ever had. Experience-led growth needs the help of powerful digital technologies to deliver seamless, personalised, multi-channel, and secure banking experiences.   

The Impact of Changing Customer Expectations and Technology Evolution on Banking 

Changing customer expectations and technology evolution have led to a surge in new banking technologies that are re-conceptualising the banking industry. Today, forward-thinking banks are identifying ways and leveraging technologies to ensure digital interactions mimic in-person ones.  

At the same time, they also cannot ignore the challenges that these evolutions bring. Two of the most pressing challenges that banks need to navigate because of these shifts are: 

• Navigating the risk and fraud landscape, 
• Maintaining agility in a tough regulatory environment.  

As more consumers move to connected devices, digital transformation of back-end systems while improving risk management and internal capabilities to proactively detect fraud emerge as strategic priorities.  

Why Banks Need Digital Technologies to Drive Information Trust 

Technological advances in automation, advanced analytics, robotic process automation, artificial intelligence, and machine learning are making banking audits more fool-proof and fast. These technologies are also helping banks become more adaptable to a rapidly evolving digital and security landscape. 

Banks across Australia have been adopting Confirmation to enhance customer experience by automating the confirmation process while improving fraud and scam detection. Confirmation users such as Westpac Banking Corporation are transitioning into a ‘digital first’ bank to drive customer experience and improve market responsiveness. The platform is currently used by over 60 banks across Australia and is making significant inroads in the ANZ and APAC market to simplify this key audit process.  

Confirmation’s consolidated process improves audit velocity and reduces it to a mere two days. It also helps auditors gain more confidence in the information provided by banks and allow them to help the bank manage risks better. 

Systems like Confirmation are becoming essential for banks as audit firms can be held liable if they fail to detect fraud or information anomalies. As such, a large majority of trailblazing banks in the ANZ and APAC region including ANZ, Bank of America, Citibank, JP Morgan Chase Bank, ING Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, and many more are using Confirmation to make audit confirmations safer, faster, and easier. 

In Conclusion 

While the adoption of digital technologies has been in the making for a few years now, traditional banking mechanisms need an urgent upgrade in the wake of rising customer expectations. Digitally transformed processes no longer remain an exaggerated utility but are a necessity as customers expect excellent experiences from banking interactions. 

Connect with us to see how Confirmation can help banks improve their audit processes by ensuring timely and accurate data and greater information integrity.  

The post Reshaping Banking for the Digital Age – Why Banks Need Digital Technologies to Drive Business  appeared first on Confirmation.

Audit quality is influenced by the auditors’ internal systems, compliance process, and the technology in place to streamline the audit process. As market dynamics remain in a state of flux, leading audit firms are leveraging technology to become advisors to businesses.

Businesses, too, are now looking for auditors who have the appropriate technology controls in place to help them manage the complexities of the business environment, prevent fraud, increase stakeholder confidence, and maintain and improve market perception. As such, the longevity of audit companies correlates directly to their agility toward digital transformation. 

The Current State of Audit

Fraud and non-compliance cause significant losses to organisations each year. In fact, data shows that organisations lose 5% of revenue to fraud each year. This number stands at an estimated loss of $4.7 trillion on a global scale. 

Businesses are also facing an unprecedented level of scrutiny from both regulatory bodies and the general public. The increasing list of fines issued by the PCAOB, a US regulatory body that is followed internationally, proves that businesses must transform their processes to stay in step with the current regulatory landscape.

Along with the financial impact in the form of fines, penalties, and settlement costs, the real cost of fraud and non-compliance goes beyond what meets the eye. It shows up in business disruption, productivity loss, and reputational damage. The latter impacts organisational longevity and financial recovery since these are heavily influenced by market perceptions and trust.

Navigating the Audit Challenge

Audit companies are starting to evaluate their technology maturity to identify whether their business can keep up with the current regulatory environment, their client’s increasing expectations, and the expectations of a new wave of talent.

Amidst labour crunches, resource constraints and frequent staff turnover, maintaining audit quality becomes a key concern. Audit firms can leverage technology to obtain good quality audit evidence using fewer resources while facing a labour crunch. As staff turnover is a common phenomenon in the audit world, technology can also help ensure that critical evidence is not lost during personnel transitions. 

As multinational organisations and audit firms both become responsible for the quality of audits, the need for creating greater transparency, traceability, and control over information management becomes pivotal to drive sustainable and high-quality audits.

The Future of Audit

The pandemic was instrumental in accelerating digital adoption in audit firms. The 2022 State of Accounting Firms Trends Report stresses that those who adopt technologies such as cloud, RPA, and data analytics develop a significant competitive edge over those who do not.

The report also highlights that two-thirds of accounting firms plan to adopt cloud technology (in some form) in the next two years to improve online collaboration, visibility, and efficiency. The report shows that while one-third (31%) are still completely desktop-based, a majority indicate that they plan to bring cloud technology into their practices over the next two years.

To Conclude

Robust technology platforms are becoming important tools in the auditors’ arsenal. Digitally transforming traditional, paper-based processes like the audit confirmation process not only provides more control over record-keeping but also enables more accurate results. The Thomson Retuers Confirmation platform, for example, eliminates some of the key challenges that impede high-quality audits. The platform:

• Streamlines and simplifies the entire confirmation process and eliminates the need for back-and-forth communication that leads to errors.
• Provides a safe place to communicate sensitive information between audit firms, clients, and banks, and its recognised data security system prioritises user privacy and confidentiality.
• Guides entry-level auditors and alleviates concerns about auditor oversight.
• Reduces errors by almost 35% and increases confidence in audit results.
• Delivers fool-proof internal procedures that maintain information integrity and reduce the risk of fraud.
• Offers the world’s largest network of validated responders like banks and law firms, which guarantee a response.

Connect with our team to see how Confirmation, the global gold standard for audit confirmations, protects against fraud while increasing audit quality, improving customer experience, and advancing organisational profitability.

The post Audit Firms Must Tech Up or Be Left Behind appeared first on Confirmation.

A report by ACCC on scam activity highlights that:

• Australians lost a record $3.1 billion to scammers in 2022, an 80% increase on total losses in 2021.
• Investment scams were the highest loss category standing at $1.5 billion, remote access scams at $229 million, and payment redirection scams at $224 million.

Along with all this, there is also a risk of fraud in audit and accounting firms. The Wirecard scandal where an approximate $2 billion went missing from Wirecard’s books is a recent example of how easily traditional systems are manipulated. The company had been manipulating the system for years. This fraud opened the discussion regarding the auditors role in identifying and combating fraud. While the company’s auditor, Ernst & Young (EY) lead discovered the fraud, the audit firm faced severe criticism and a 500,000 euro fine for failing to detect the fraud sooner.

While audits intend to deliver independent evaluations and examinations of financial statements, traditional processes lend themselves to easy manipulation. Catching forged invoices, contracts, and letters with outdated auditing systems is no longer possible.

In a study of 358 audit firms, auditors witnessed a 2.2% drop in client growth for each highlighted flaw and 6.1% lower fee growth over the next year. This also explains why audit quality can be easily compromised in the absence of foolproof systems.

The Audit Challenge

Data shows processes and systems that can be manipulated will be manipulated. As fraud sophistication grows, audit processes that are dated and manual, and hence open to manipulation, are no longer viable. For auditors to retain trust and credibility, auditing will need to progress beyond email/fax/mail and leverage strong and secure technology platforms.

The gap between the current technological adoption and audit accounting standards has increased, compelling a rethinking of the audit process keeping technology at its heart. The reason to do this is twofold – to increase the quality and confidence of audit and to provide more opportunity for audits to become a proactive, value-driven, and forward-looking activity.

The Role of Technology

Auditors are now arming themselves with industry-compliant technology tools and platforms to identify anomalies, look at and analyse large and comprehensive data sets, and improve the quality of audits while also increasing audit velocity and confidence.

Technology platforms like Confirmation have become invaluable in helping audit companies stay ahead of the competition. Confirmation enables audit firms an easy, fast, and secure way to send more than 100 confirmation types to anyone, anywhere in the world. More than 16,000 audit firms trust Confirmation and use it to keep up with constant regulatory changes, reduce non-value-added responsibilities, and conduct more insightful analyses and focus on high-value tasks.

Streamlining the audit confirmation process increases auditor productivity, elevates customer experience, and improves profitability while combatting fraud. An automated confirmation process removes the hidden costs of traditional approaches like email, fax, or mail. Our studies show that:

• Up to 30% of audit requests received by banks are duplicates, creating unnecessary work,
• 40% of auditors have had to delay the completion of their clients’ audits due to late confirmation responses,
• 65% of auditors have had to ask their clients to chase the bank for urgent confirmation responses.

Confirmation allows auditors to verify financial data and creates an ecosystem that cannot be manipulated. To illustrate Confirmation’s commitment to effective operational controls and privacy and security best practices, we undergo Service Organisation Control (SOC) examinations annually and have received an ISO 27001 certification for the service. Collectively, these provide assurance about the controls we implement to protect the privacy and confidentiality of our users’ data and the security, availability, and processing integrity of our system.

A compliant and comprehensive confirmation platform contributes significantly to elevating the quality of audits. Online confirmations reduce the audit confirmation process from weeks to just days and delivers a validated global network. This reduces the chance of fraud and increases auditors’ confidence as responses received are from validated financial institutions.

Connect with our team to see how Confirmation, the global gold standard for audit confirmations, protects against fraud while increasing audit quality, improving customer experience, and advancing organisational profitability.

The post Technology Solves the Audit Conundrum – Why Audit Firms Should Care appeared first on Confirmation.

While one would assume credit inquiries are handled digitally given today’s technological advancements, the truth is many creditors are still relying on outdated manual processes that are painfully slow and involve emails, phone calls, or even faxes to financial institutions. 

Unfortunately, the credit inquiry process is often so antiquated and frustrating that credit managers avoid it altogether and instead pursue alternative means of uncovering financial information, without vetting it fully with a financial institution. A risky move, to say the least.  

But what if there was a way to digitize the credit inquiry process from start to finish and ensure credit managers get the quick and accurate responses they need? There is – and it provides credit managers with a guaranteed response, usually within a matter of hours.  

To understand the full picture, let’s take a look at what a credit inquiry is, why it is important, and how online confirmations can transform outdated processes.  

What is a credit inquiry?  

A credit inquiry or bank reference is an indicator of a potential customer’s future ability to meet payment obligations based on real-time financial insights. It also helps lenders verify that customers are who they say they are.  

Commercial credit inquiries are requests, sent by business managers, to verify details of a commercial bank account. Responses help establish a client’s credit valuation before extending terms on a sale. Requests can include account type, balance in relative terms, opening date, and number of days overdrawn.  

What are the benefits of a credit inquiry?  

A credit inquiry or bank reference reduces risk for the lender by providing a thorough financial background check before extending credit—especially in high-risk, high-value opportunities. While not required, a credit inquiry is a proactive action that helps companies extend a reasonable amount of credit and prevents the headache of missed payments. The knowledge gained from a bank reference has the potential to uncover warning signs of financial distress, which is critical in making informed credit decisions. It’s a more complete process than using trade references alone and doesn’t require significant investment.  

For example, it is widely known that extending business-to-business (B2B) credit in the construction industry comes with a certain amount of risk, due to factors like market volatility, changes in material costs, and labor shortages. This means credit professionals must use all the tools at their disposal to verify financial data and proactively identify signs of financial trouble before extending credit. 

Managing these credit inquiries by fax, mail, or email is a time-consuming, disorganized, and unreliable process – until now.  

How can I simplify the credit inquiry process? 

Online financial verifications are a key digitization trend happening with financial institutions, which bodes well for credit managers who need quick answers.   

A digital confirmation platform can help credit managers quickly and easily verify financial data, including bank references, ensuring your company has the right information before extending credit.   

Thomson Reuters® Confirmation provides a secure, cloud-based solution that enables credit managers to digitize their credit inquiries, resulting in improved response times, reduced errors, and saved staff time. Our security safeguards exceed industry standards and keep customer data safer than it would be if it were faxed, emailed, or given over the phone.  

When you send a request through Confirmation, you’re guaranteed a response from thousands of financial institutions, including 50 of the top 100 banks in North America. 

Used by 7,800 credit managers and more than 4,000 financial institutions around the world, Thomson Reuters Confirmation exceeds industry standards, passes hundreds of security audits each year, and complies with regulatory standards. And because banks prefer receiving your requests through Confirmation, their responses are faster when you do. 

With a centralized dashboard, Confirmation organizes your work in one place online. Say goodbye to faxing and filing. Everything you need is now at your fingertips. Ready to experience a fast and accurate online bank reference process and guaranteed responses within in a matter of hours? Request your free demo here.     

The post How to avoid pitfalls when extending credit    appeared first on Confirmation.

That’s why more and more mortgage QC professionals are turning to a secure, cloud-based solution that enables them to verify financial data quickly and easily. By standardizing these requests, auditors can access all records from a single, centralized location — and easily comply with regulatory requirements. 

But what exactly is a post-closing audit and how can digital confirmations help to streamline the process and stay compliant? Let’s take a look.  

What is a compliant post-closing audit? 

In short, a mortgage post-close audit involves mortgage QC professionals conducting a quality test to uncover any deficiencies over the entire mortgage process. The auditor tracks essential documents (also known as trailing documents) which include tax records, trust deeds, liens, uniform commercial code records, and more to ensure completeness and accuracy.  

All compliances must be met in accordance with major regulatory bodies such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, VA, USDA/RHS, FHLB, and state compliance.  

Stringent audits and reviews are required to ensure trailing documents adhere to all regulatory requirements. It is because of these intricacies that the process is susceptible to errors.  

What are the challenges of post-closing audits? 

From preparing the correct documentation to obtaining the appropriate signatures to providing the proper disclosures, mortgage quality control requires a significant amount work on behalf of the QC professional. Altogether, this makes mortgage post-closing very complex.  

Post-close quality control turnaround times are a major concern for mortgage originators, as are the challenges associated with data verification during the post-closing audit stage, particularly when it comes to inconsistencies, discrepancies, and omissions. 

According to the Q4 2022 ACES® Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report, which delivers nationwide findings on loan quality, the overall defect rate for CY 2022 was 2.07%, up 5% from CY 2021’s rate of 1.97%. Defects increased year-over-year in three underwriting categories, as did six of the 11 total defect categories. 

But what if there was a solution that could streamline the mortgage reverification process and enable auditors to get responses in less time? There is — and it’s secure and compliant. 

How can I simplify the mortgage reverification process? 

As part of the post-closing audit process, mortgage reverification requests include verifying checking and savings accounts as of a previous date. Managing these requests by fax, mail, or email can be a time-consuming and unorganized process that can result in inaccuracies due to manual processes and human error. 

Digital mortgage reverifications are much faster and more secure, while offering greater compliance.  

Thomson Reuters® Confirmation provides a secure, cloud-based solution that standardizes requests, allowing you to get responses to more requests in less time from a single, centralized location — all while complying with regulatory requirements.

• Complete multiple requests at once: send requests for multiple clients, to multiple banks in one order
• You can find, sort, and filter your requests for easier tracking and reporting 
• There’s no software to download or per-license fees, so onboarding new staff members is simple 
• Confirmation features the largest validated network to reduce the risk of fraud and guarantee your request goes to the right place the first time 
• We follow up with banks on your behalf, so you get a faster response 

Used by more than 5,000 asset verification requesters around the world, Confirmation exceeds industry standards, passes hundreds of security audits each year, and complies with regulatory standards. And because financial institutions prefer receiving your requests through Confirmation, their responses are faster when you do. 

With a centralized dashboard, Confirmation organizes your work in one place online. Say goodbye to faxing and filing. Everything you need is now at your fingertips. 

Ready to get started? Request a free demo here.  

The post Overcoming the key challenges of post-closing audits appeared first on Confirmation.

In today’s fast-paced business landscape, the ability to make data-driven decisions efficiently is critical to success. If you’re using Confirmation already, you’re already experiencing the benefits of digitizing your confirmation workflow, but the process of accessing confirmation history and analyzing data can be cumbersome and time-consuming.

Our reporting API, RequestActivity, opens the door to automated retrieval of detailed confirmation activity and eliminates the need for exporting and updating multiple spreadsheets manually. Let’s explore the benefits of using this API and see how it can empower you with business intelligence and improved workflow management.

Unlock business intelligence

Business intelligence is the backbone of informed decision making. The reporting API allows you to tap into your confirmation history, enabling the extraction of raw data for analysis and reporting. This invaluable feature allows for deeper insights into volume of confirmations, evaluation of response times, and identification of potential bottlenecks.

Gone are the days of being restricted to predefined reports; by connecting Confirmation data to a business intelligence tool like Tableau or PowerBI, you can slice and dice data any way you want. You’ll be empowered to foster a more comprehensive understanding of your business.

Here’s an example of our reporting API in action. A multinational investment bank and financial services company is using it to build a time-saving reporting dashboard. Every day at midnight, the dashboard automatically fetches and distributes the latest data to executive stakeholders. Manual report creation is a thing of the past; stakeholders can simply log into Tableau and find their up-to-date reports waiting for them on the dashboard.

Banks often use the reporting API to examine the efficiency of their responses, remove bottlenecks, and adequately assign staff when accounting busy season hits. Efficient, effortless, and no wasted time!

Access historical data

With the reporting API, historical confirmation data becomes readily available — and you can access activity records for as long as you’ve been a Confirmation customer. This historical perspective is invaluable for trend analysis and making informed decisions based on past performance.

Data retrieval is flexible, allowing you to access up to a month’s worth of data at a time. If needed, multiple requests can be made for different date ranges. This adaptability ensures you have access to the data you require, precisely when you need it.

Fulfill SLAs

If you’re like most businesses that thrive on quick response times and meeting Service Level Agreements (SLAs), our reporting API can be a game-changer. By accessing detailed confirmation activity through the API, you can identify any delays or inefficiencies in the process and free up resources. This newfound visibility allows you to take corrective actions promptly, ensuring that response SLAs are met consistently.

Automate processes: the technical details

Automation is a powerful tool in streamlining workflows, saving time, and reducing manual efforts. Our reporting API provides two endpoints, POST Report/RequestActivity, and GET Report/RequestActivity, designed to automate the retrieval of confirmation activity data. The asynchronous nature of these services ensures that even large response sizes don’t impact the efficiency of your operations.

The POST Report/RequestActivity service expects a Start and End date as input and returns a report ID and status (Pending or Completed). Meanwhile, the GET Report/RequestActivity service uses the report ID to fetch detailed confirmation history in a JSON format. The data includes all confirmation requests with at least one action/activity within the specified date range.

Get started today

Our RequestActivity API is a game-changing tool for financial institutions seeking to streamline confirmation workflows, enhance business intelligence, and better serve clients – and it’s incredibly easy to implement, in less than a week. By automating data retrieval, analyzing confirmation history becomes seamless, allowing for faster response times, SLA adherence, and efficient stakeholder communication.

With streamlined access to historical data, you can harness the power of data-driven insights to make informed decisions and drive success. Embrace the power of the RequestActivity API and unlock the full potential of your financial institution’s confirmation process today. Request a free 1:1 demo to take the next step.

The post Unlock banking business intelligence with the Confirmation reporting API   appeared first on Confirmation.

Download our latest report: The Future of Audit: Where do we go from here?

The report features interviews with partners from major accountancy firms, the Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales (ICAEW), as well as insights from 845 senior audit professionals.

The auditing profession is on the cusp of a wholesale transformation. The potential for substantial change is tangible and the benefits to capital markets are considerable. For a profession losing talent and under heavy scrutiny from media, regulators and public bodies, such challenges are bringing into question its authority and effectiveness.

So where do we go from here? How can auditors grasp the nettle and progress towards continuous auditing to enhance value for clients whilst improving the auditing process? 

The post The Future of Audit: Where do we go from here? appeared first on Confirmation.

中国财政部和中国银保监会（中国银行保险监督管理委员会）宣布，银行必须建立起集中化平台，通过此类平台事务所可以发出、银行可以接收用于审计目的的银行询证函。《关于加快推进银行函证规范化、集约化、数字化建设的通知》的精神是倡导银行询证的规范化与集约化。

该《通知》要求行业迈向数字化询证，提高审计效率和有效性。

推动数字化询证背后的原因

中国政府和监管机构发布这一全面通知，是为了应对审计速度、信息准确性和真实性方面的紧迫挑战。这一转型可以有效解决询证的低效和出错问题。

传统的银行询证涉及大量手工操作，耗时费力、容易出错。由于银行询证流程需要大量的交易审查、合规检查以及信息准确性，因此数字化审计询证平台对于获得正确的结果至关重要。

该《通知》旨在应对有关询证的一些紧迫问题，包括：

• 缩短回复时间以优化询证时间进度。
• 提高运营效率。
• 加强内部审计和检查，提高回函的真实性和准确性。
• 增加可追溯性和改进审计追踪。
• 保护会计师事务所的权利和利益，确保银行询证的公正性和客观性。
• 缩短审计询证过程，提高安全性和可控性。

数字化询证平台如何有助于改进银行询证？

该《通知》旨在推动从纸质询证向数字化询证转型，而数字化询证平台对这一转型过程至关重要。对此类平台的期望是明确的。平台需要高度安全，能始终确保信息的完整性，减少工作量，并通过清晰的工作流程提高准确性。简而言之，平台应保证银行业的合规性和安全性。

• 提高询证准确度和缩短回应时间

回应时间一直是银行业的主要关注点，因为回应缓慢会导致审计流程出现严重延误。数字化平台将审计询证流程从数周缩短至数天，同时满足所有行业标准。

人工审查还需要更高的技能和多种资源来完成询证过程。数字化审计平台允许银行直接向客户发送有关交易的询证函并验证其真实性，从而加快了这一过程。然后，银行可以将回函与交易信息进行比较，以验证信息。这一过程降低了审计中的操作风险，提高了审计效率，提升了银行的合规性和风控水平。

• 集中化询证流程以提高效率

数字化询证与纸质询证具有同等效力。然而，数字化询证的主要优势之一是集中化。中国监管机构的通知不仅旨在推动从纸质系统向数字化系统的转型，还旨在推动审计事务所建立处理银行询证的集中化团队。

拥有一个强大的数字化询证平台，可以让审计事务所以最小的努力，轻松地在公司内部将这一过程集中化。这不仅符合监管要求，也决定了将由集中化的询证部门或团队，遵循统一的流程来完成这项活动。

• 提高客观性、公平性和信息准确性

数字化询证平台对于提高审计质量、增强审计信心和诚信至关重要。清晰的工作流程、明确的数据追踪，以及平台对政策和法规的遵守，都有助于提高审计询证的质量和效率。

• 改进交易审查和合规性检查

全方位的数字化询证平台，让审计人员能够更好地控制询证过程。除了更高的信息完整性外，数字化平台还有助于审计人员将信息集中起来，并将所有询证函存储在同一个平台上。因此，数字化平台提高了复函的可追溯性和可证明性，有助于加强对银行询证函的存储、监督和管理。

审计人员可以将来自数字化平台的数据与交易信息进行比较，并将这些数据与审计询证函进行比较，以识别风险和欺诈事件。通过主动识别和缓解问题，审计询证流程的集中化和数字化可以改善内部控制和风险管理。

• 维护安全可靠的询证环境

数字化平台对于审计询证非常重要，为重要文件创造了一个安全可靠的环境。功能强大而精心设计的数字化询证平台，致力于保护用户数据的隐私和机密性，同时维护其系统的安全性、可用性和处理完整性。

ISO/IEC 27001:2013、GDPR 合规以及欧盟标准合同条款 (EU SCC) 等认证，可确保更高的合规性和安全性。此外，具备与许多主要全球银行的接口和明确的数据安全政策，确保了更高的信息完整性和更快的询证速度。

利用数字化询证平台有着多种令人信服的理由，包括存储、传输、查询的便利性，能对银行询证的管理和监督提供更有效的信息支持，优化审计环境，以及改善行业监管合规标准。 

今天的中国正在寻求提高交易的真实性和合规性，提高银行业对政策要求的响应能力，并加快其数字化转型进程。提高数字化风险管理和安全能力，满足不断变化的市场和客户需求，也是关键优先事项。精心设计、高度安全且合规的数字化询证平台能充当银行的专业管家，负责保持询证过程井然有序、高度优化，并具备固有的安全性和可追溯性，因而能对实现上述目标发挥至关重要的作用。

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