Recruiter's Glossary

Examples: Substantive Testing • Independence • Inherent Risk

Confirmations

Term from Auditing industry explained for recruiters

Confirmations are a fundamental auditing tool where auditors verify information about a company's accounts by getting independent responses from outside parties, like banks or customers. It's similar to fact-checking by asking a third party to confirm details. For example, when auditors need to verify how much money a company has in its bank account, they send a confirmation request to the bank rather than just trusting the company's records. This process is considered one of the most reliable ways to gather audit evidence because the information comes from independent sources outside the company being audited.

Examples in Resumes

Managed Confirmations process for accounts receivable balances totaling over $10M

Led team in implementing electronic Confirmation systems to improve audit efficiency

Conducted External Confirmations for bank balances and legal proceedings

Supervised Audit Confirmations process for 50+ client accounts

Typical job title: "Auditors"

Also try searching for:

External Auditor Internal Auditor Audit Associate Audit Senior Audit Manager Assurance Associate Financial Auditor

Where to Find Auditors

Professional Organizations

Job Boards

Professional Networks

Example Interview Questions

Senior Level Questions

Q: How would you handle a situation where confirmation responses show significant discrepancies with client records?

Expected Answer: A senior auditor should explain the process of investigating discrepancies, including communicating with the client, documenting findings, and determining if it indicates a larger issue that needs to be addressed in the audit strategy.

Q: Describe your experience in implementing or improving the confirmation process for a large client.

Expected Answer: Should discuss experience with managing large-scale confirmation processes, implementing electronic confirmation systems, and developing efficient workflows while maintaining proper control and documentation.

Mid Level Questions

Q: What are the different types of confirmations you've worked with and when would you use each?

Expected Answer: Should be able to explain positive vs negative confirmations, bank confirmations, accounts receivable confirmations, and legal confirmations, with examples of when each is most appropriate.

Q: What steps do you take to ensure the reliability of confirmation responses?

Expected Answer: Should explain verification of sender authenticity, proper documentation, follow-up procedures for non-responses, and alternative procedures when confirmations can't be obtained.

Junior Level Questions

Q: What is the basic purpose of the confirmation process in auditing?

Expected Answer: Should explain that confirmations are used to verify account balances and other information by getting independent verification from external parties like banks, customers, or vendors.

Q: What information would you include in a basic bank confirmation request?

Expected Answer: Should mention bank account numbers, balance confirmation request, loans/debt information, access to bank statements, and authorized signatories verification.