US Patent 7831488 Systems, methods and computer readable medium providing automated third-party confirmations

Systems and methods are defined for facilitating the audit process involving a business client, an auditor, and a third-party providing confirmations for the client upon the auditor's request. More specifically, an auditor receives an audit number from the audited client as evidence of authorization for requesting confirmation from a third-party, such as a bank or related business entity. The confirmation request submitted by the auditor will be stored in a network-based computer system and transmitted to the relevant third-party. The third-party then provides necessary confirmation data in response to the request and has the confirmation data transferred to the auditor through the computer system over the Internet. The involved third-party can be a bank or financial institution, another entity in business relationship with the client, or any other entity that has access to the requested data associated with the client.