How Crowe Spain boosted accuracy and improved response rates with Circit

Crowe Spain is a leading audit and consulting firm, recognised for delivering high-quality, innovative solutions across a wide range of industries. As part of the global Crowe network, the firm combines local expertise with international reach, supporting businesses at every stage of their journey with tailored services in audit, tax, and advisory.

Sergi Pons Rocañin, Audit Director with over 15 years of experience, is a key member of Crowe Spain's Technical Department. He has worked with companies of all sizes, from dynamic family-owned businesses to large corporations, providing expert guidance in audit and financial reporting.
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Fiorella Manconi, Senior Experience in Audit, with 4 years at the firm, is part of Crowe Spain’s Innovation Area, contributing to the modernization and enhancement of the firm’s audit services, ensuring clients benefit from the latest advancements in the industry.

Increased accuracy and accessibility of information due to the centralised Circit platform

Significant reduction in email communications

Improved response times and eliminated redundancies in the process

Substantial reduction in time spent on administrative tasks

“The PBC product provides a centralised platform for sharing documents in real-time, improving the organisation and immediate access to audit documentation. This has resulted in a significant reduction in email volume and has facilitated the review of pending points in each audit.”

Sergi Pons Rocañin, Audit Director, Crowe Spain

BEFORE CIRCIT

“Before using Circit, we employed a specific platform for circularisation, which presented several challenges, such as the inability to reuse templates from year to year. It only allowed two circular mailings per third party, and there was also a lack of trust from the circularised third parties in the platform, reducing the response success rate.”

“Regarding document exchange, we mainly managed it through email or platforms such as Google Drive or OneDrive. This created difficulties in effectively tracking pending documentation, as we could not know the status of the information in real-time. Often, duplicate documents were requested, or too many emails were exchanged, causing some to get lost in the daily flood of messages, which led to inefficiencies in our work.”

Deciding on Circit

“When deciding on Circit, several key factors were considered. Internally, we evaluated the inefficiency we experienced in requesting documentation and the low success rate of circular responses. This created the need to find a more efficient solution to improve daily processes.”

“The decision-making process began when junior and senior team members identified these difficulties in their daily work. From there, the firm’s technical department, responsible for digital transformation and composed of a partner, a manager, and a senior member, was tasked with evaluating various alternatives in the market.”

“In July 2023, we started meetings with Jose, who presented a demo of Circit and answered all our questions. Afterward, we evaluated the tool internally, and following a thorough analysis, we began implementing it in early October at our offices in Barcelona and Madrid.”

Implementing Circit

Crowe Spain, a leading audit services firm, adopted Circit with the goal of improving efficiency and transparency in its processes. This decision has significantly transformed the way they work, benefiting both the auditors and their clients.

The implementation of Circit focused on three key solutions: the PBC, Confirmation Requests and AR/AP products.

“On the other hand, Confirmation Requests has fully automated the creation, sending, and tracking of external confirmations. This automation has significantly improved response times, reduced manual effort, and eliminated redundancies in the process. The results of adopting Circit have been tangible and significant.”

Crowe Spain has experienced a significant reduction in time spent on administrative tasks, enabling faster and more efficient audits, which is crucial during peak workload periods. Auditors can now focus more on analysis rather than paperwork management. The quality of audits has also noticeably improved.

“The centralisation of documentation has increased the accuracy and accessibility of information. The tracking of confirmations and the real-time review of documents have contributed to this improvement in quality.”

“One of the most notable benefits has been the improvement in communication with clients. Client adoption of Circit has been surprisingly smooth, facilitating more fluid and transparent communication. Clients can now efficiently and securely access and share documents, which has strengthened the trust and collaboration between Crowe Spain and its audited clients.”

“Circit has been integrated at different levels within Crowe Spain. Management uses the platform to supervise audits in real-time, while audit staff use it daily to request and verify information from clients and third parties. The tool is particularly intensively used in external confirmations and the collaboration plan areas.”

The implementation of Circit has proven to be a strategic decision for Crowe Spain, optimising its audit processes and enhancing the experience for both its internal teams and clients. The platform has not only increased operational efficiency, but also improved the quality of audits and strengthened relationships with clients.

“We would recommend Circit to other audit firms due to the numerous advantages it has brought to our daily work. Its implementation has completely transformed the efficiency and transparency of our processes, benefiting both our teams and clients.”

Fiorella Manconi, Audit Director, Crowe Spain

Circit’s Support and Product Development

“Working with Circit has been satisfactory. The team’s quick response to queries and issues has helped improve the tool’s adoption among the teams. The Circit team has considered the feedback and recommendations made by Crowe's team to improve the platform's functionality. The availability of technical support has been key to adapting the tool to Crowe's specific needs.”

Why would you recommend Circit to other audit firms?

“The centralisation of information has improved document accessibility, minimising the risk of errors when requesting duplicate files or omissions by the client of essential information. Real-time tracking of confirmations and document reviews has resulted in improved audit quality.”

“Another important point is the relationship with clients. Circit has not only optimised our operational processes but also improved the quality of our work and enhanced the experience for all parties involved. The ease with which clients have adopted Circit has improved collaboration and trust, as they can now share and access documents quickly and securely.”

What does the future of your collaboration with Circit look like?

“We are delighted to continue our collaboration with Circit in the coming years. We consider one of their strongest points to be their excellent customer service, which has been key to the success of its implementation.”

“We are currently evaluating the possibility of expanding its use to other offices within the Crowe network in Spain, as the results have been very positive. Additionally, we look forward to continuing to collaborate with Circit in the future to test new tools and innovative solutions they may develop to further optimize our processes.”

“Circit has not only optimised our operational processes but also improved the quality of our work and enhanced the experience for all parties involved. The ease with which clients have adopted Circit has improved collaboration and trust, as they can now share and access documents quickly and securely.”