Ordering & Tracking Checks

Background checks are ordered one candidate at a time, from the candidate’s profile. CONFIRM sends the candidate a link to complete their part, tracks each step, and shows the report on the profile when it’s ready. Admins, Recruiters, and Hiring Managers can order checks once an Admin has finished setup; see Background Checks Overview.

Background checks are switched on per organization. If you don’t see them, contact your CONFIRM account team to turn them on.

Ordering a check

There are two ways to start an order on a candidate’s profile:

From the pipeline. When a job has a Background check step, the main action that moves a candidate into that step is Send Background Check. If a candidate is already at the step with nothing ordered, the main action reads Send background check.
From the ⋯ menu. Choose Send background check on any candidate who doesn’t already have a check in progress.

Either way, the Order a background screening dialog opens.

Admins, Recruiters, and Hiring Managers can place orders, for candidates on jobs they have access to. Setting up background checks (the account, terms, packages, payment card, and payment model) stays with Admins.

Check for blockers

CONFIRM checks whether this candidate can be invited. If something is missing (for example, unaccepted screening terms, no payment card, an account that isn’t approved yet, or a background check that still needs authorizing), the dialog lists each problem with a link to fix it and won’t let you continue.

Review the package and price

The dialog shows the package the job’s settings resolved to and its price. There’s no package picker here: the package comes from the job (or your organization default). If your organization pays by card, it also shows how much of the monthly background check budget is left. “Includes a retainability check” appears when Retainability Lite is on.

Acknowledge and send

Tick the acknowledgment for this order, or, if your organization has already given a one-time authorization for this package, the dialog notes that instead. Then click Confirm and send invitation.

What the candidate gets depends on how checks are paid for:

Your organization pays: the dialog confirms “Invitation sent”, and the candidate gets their screening link by text and email. Your organization’s company card is charged when they submit. Whoever orders the check never sees or enters card details.
The candidate pays: the dialog confirms “Payment link sent”. Their check begins once they pay. The dialog shows the link so you can copy it if they need it again.

If CONFIRM couldn’t message the candidate automatically, the dialog says so; reach out to them directly or send them the link.

Monthly budget

When your organization pays by card, each check counts toward the monthly background check budget an Admin sets on Settings → Billing & payments. If an order would go over it:

Recruiters and Hiring Managers see that the order would go over this month’s budget and are asked to check with an Admin. Nothing is ordered.
Admins see a box asking them to confirm the order goes over the monthly background check budget. Once it’s ticked, the order can be sent. All Admins are emailed, and the override is recorded in payment activity.

See Company Card & Budgets.

When the order was started from the pipeline action, the candidate moves into the Background check step once the order exists. Cancelling the dialog leaves the candidate where they were.

Tracking a check on the candidate profile

Once a check is ordered, the candidate’s overview shows a background check panel with a timeline:

Invited → Paid (only when the candidate pays) → Submitted → Report

Each step shows its date and time when reached. Reminders sent to the candidate are listed below the timeline. The panel header changes to Report ready — review before advancing when the report is in and the candidate is still at the Background check step, and to Needs attention when the screening agency flags the check.

Panel actions:

Action	When it’s available
Copy link	While the candidate’s link is live, so you can resend it yourself
View report / Hide report	Once the report is ready; the report opens inside the panel
Cancel	Admins, Recruiters, and Hiring Managers, while the check is still invited or paid. The candidate’s link stops working and no report is produced. This can’t be undone.

Review the report before you advance the candidate past the Background check step. Moving them on (for example, to a hire decision) is a separate action you take.

Check statuses

Status	Meaning
Invited	The invitation was sent; waiting on the candidate.
Paid	The candidate paid for their check (candidate-pays only).
Submitted	The candidate completed their part.
In progress	The screening agency is running the check.
Complete	The check finished.
Expired	The candidate didn’t complete it in time.
Cancelled	Someone on your team cancelled it.
Payment failed	The payment didn’t go through.

Following checks across candidates

On the Background Checks page:

Overview shows counts of checks in progress, awaiting the candidate, completed in the last 30 days, and with a report to review, plus a Needs attention list of invitations with no response after 5 days.
Checks lists every order with filters for candidate, status, job, and date. Click a row to open the same timeline and actions as the candidate panel.

On the Candidates page, the Background check ordered quick filter (under More) narrows the list to candidates with a check.

The Background Checks report

The Reports page includes a Background Checks report (orders, status, and spend) when background checks are on for your organization. Filter by Date range, Job, and Status. Summary tiles show Ordered, Awaiting candidate, Complete, and Spend (Spend is hidden when candidates pay). The table lists each check’s candidate, job, package, status, ordered, submitted, and completed dates, amount, and report. Download the results as a CSV. See Exports for the other reports.