What Is An Audit Trail & How To Conduct One

What Is An Audit Trail & How To Conduct One


An audit trail is a data trail that includes the date, time and user information associated with a financial transaction, work event, product development phase or financial ledger entry. It is used to track a sequence of events or actions in chronological order and provides a historical record of the project that can be used as research when planning similar projects. It also provides proof of compliance and operational integrity and can be used to avoid future hacks, system failures and other data corruption. The ability to track and manage records and use an audit trail to trace these records to their origin is helpful for several reasons, such as creating more user accountability and preventing infection by viruses. Audit trails are used to protect intellectual property, personnel information, financial records and more.

There are three main types of audit trails: external, internal and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audits. External audits are executed by an independent agency, while internal audits are done within the business and include compliance, operational, financial and information technology audits. Training is required of employees to audit the different departments and make sure that processes, protocols and managerial processes are followed.