Thomson Reuters Confirmation
Electronic audit confirmation platform.
About Thomson Reuters Confirmation
Thomson Reuters Confirmation replaces paper-based audit confirmation workflows with an electronic network connecting auditors directly to banks, accounts receivable contacts, and legal firms. On a typical engagement, you send bank confirmation requests through the platform, respondents reply digitally, and every response lands in a tracked queue with timestamps and status flags. Automated follow-up reminders go out to non-responding parties on a schedule you set, cutting the back-and-forth that used to eat weeks off fieldwork. The platform suits mid-to-large external audit firms running GAAS-compliant engagements where confirmation volume makes manual tracking untenable. It connects to a wide network of financial institutions and law firms that already have accounts on the platform, which is the real differentiator over smaller competitors. Firms already using Thomson Reuters CS Professional Suite or CaseWare get the smoothest experience since workflow handoffs are more direct. The gaps are real. Pricing is quote-based and climbs quickly with confirmation volume, making it impractical for small firms doing light confirmation work. The interface feels dated compared to newer entrants. If your clients bank exclusively with regional or community banks outside the TR network, response rates drop and you end up chasing paper anyway. It does not meaningfully outperform Confirmation.com on features — the TR ecosystem integration is the primary reason to choose it.
Best for
External auditors needing efficient electronic confirmation management for audit engagements
Key Features
- Electronic bank confirmation automation
- Accounts receivable confirmation management
- Digital audit trail tracking
- Automated follow-up on pending confirmations
- Legal confirmation processing
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Established network of participating banks and law firms means most large-institution confirmations get routed and returned without manual outreach
- Automated follow-up scheduling eliminates the auditor time spent tracking non-responses across dozens of open requests
- Digital audit trail logs every request, reminder, and response with timestamps, satisfying documentation requirements without manual assembly
- Handles bank, accounts receivable, and legal confirmations in one queue rather than splitting workflows across separate tools
- Integrates with CaseWare and CS Professional Suite for firms already in the TR ecosystem, reducing duplicate data entry
- Supports large-client engagements where confirmation volume makes spreadsheet tracking genuinely unmanageable
Cons
- Pricing is quote-only and scales with confirmation volume, so small firms or practitioners doing occasional audit work will find it expensive relative to alternatives
- Regional and community banks outside the TR network still require paper or email confirmations, which undercuts the efficiency argument for audits with non-national banking clients
- The interface has not kept pace with newer platforms — navigation is clunky and the learning curve is steeper than it should be for a cloud tool
- No free trial or evaluation tier, so you commit budget before testing it against your actual client roster
- Heavy overlap with Confirmation.com in core functionality — switching from one to the other requires re-onboarding clients and respondents for limited feature gain
- Firms outside the Thomson Reuters ecosystem see fewer workflow benefits and may find standalone alternatives equally capable at lower cost
Ledger Brief Take
This is Thomson Reuters' established alternative to traditional paper-based confirmation processes, directly competing with Confirmation.com in the electronic audit confirmation space. The platform's integration with major banks and legal firms gives it a network advantage that smaller confirmation tools can't match, making it particularly valuable for auditors working with large clients who already use TR's ecosystem.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions accountants ask about Thomson Reuters Confirmation.
How does Thomson Reuters Confirmation pricing work?
Pricing is quote-based and not published on the TR website. Cost scales with confirmation volume and firm size. There is no free tier or trial period. Contact TR sales directly for a quote — expect pricing to favor mid-to-large firms running high confirmation volumes across multiple engagements.
Does Thomson Reuters Confirmation integrate with QuickBooks or Xero?
The platform lists QuickBooks, Xero, Sage, and Excel as integrations, primarily for importing client account data to populate confirmation requests. Integration depth is basic data transfer rather than a live sync. CaseWare and CS Professional Suite users get the tightest workflow connections.
How does Thomson Reuters Confirmation compare to Confirmation.com?
Both platforms cover bank, AR, and legal confirmations with digital tracking. TR Confirmation's advantage is its existing network within the Thomson Reuters ecosystem and bundling potential for firms already paying for TR audit software. Confirmation.com has a comparable bank network and is often cheaper for standalone use. Feature parity is close enough that ecosystem fit should drive the decision.
What happens when a bank is not in the TR Confirmation network?
Confirmations to institutions outside the TR network fall back to paper or email processes. The platform does not eliminate manual follow-up for these responses. If your client base skews toward regional or community banks, verify network coverage for your specific institutions before committing.
Is Thomson Reuters Confirmation suitable for small audit firms?
Not cost-effectively. The platform is built for mid-to-large external audit practices with high confirmation volume. Small firms doing fewer than 50-100 confirmations per year will likely pay more per confirmation than the time savings justify. Smaller alternatives or manual processes may be more practical.
How does the platform handle audit trail documentation?
Every confirmation request, automated reminder, and respondent reply is logged with timestamps and user identifiers. The platform generates documentation suitable for audit file inclusion without manual assembly. This satisfies GAAS documentation requirements for the confirmation process and reduces the risk of incomplete records at file close.