Audit Trail
A chronological, tamper-evident record of every action taken on a system, document, or transaction—capturing who did what, when, and from where—so organisations can prove compliance, investigate issues, and improve processes.
Key Facts
Alternate names: activity log, transaction log, change history, event log
Typical items captured: user ID, timestamp, action type (create, modify, delete, approve), before/after values, device/IP, related record ID
Primary systems: ERP & finance apps, document-management systems, HRIS, CRM, cloud infrastructure, workflow/BPM tools
Retention requirements: 7 – 10 years for SOX; indefinite or life-of-record for certain healthcare, government, and banking regulations
Security features: write-once storage, hash chaining, digital signatures, role-based access, immutable cloud object stores
Why It Matters
Regulatory compliance – Proves adherence to SOX, GDPR, HIPAA, ISO 27001, PCI-DSS, and public-sector procurement rules.
Fraud & error detection – Rapidly pinpoints unauthorised changes, duplicate payments, or data tampering.
Accountability & trust – Every approval, override, or data edit is traceable to a person and timestamp, eliminating “finger-pointing.”
Process improvement – Replay the trail to see bottlenecks and optimise workflows, SLAs, and controls.
Real-World Examples
Fintech Lender
Immutable audit trails log every loan-file access and change. When regulators requested evidence during an annual exam, export time fell from days to minutes, and no findings were issued—saving six figures in potential fines.
Hospital Chain
EHR audit trails track who views patient records. Automated alerts on bulk downloads helped detect and stop an insider threat, avoiding HIPAA breach penalties and reputational damage.
Diagram / Visual (optional)
A simple timeline illustrating log entries: Login → Create PO → Amount Change → Manager Approval → Payment Run, with user IDs and timestamps shown beneath each event.
Related Terms
Segregation of Duties (SoD)
Approval Workflow
Compliance Monitoring
Data Integrity
Change Management
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How is an audit trail different from a regular system log?
A: System logs may focus on technical events (CPU errors, service restarts). An audit trail captures business-relevant actions tied to users and data changes, in a format suitable for compliance review.
Q: What makes an audit trail “tamper-evident”?
A: Write-once storage, cryptographic hashing, and chained log entries ensure that any alteration breaks the chain or hash, flagging tampering attempts.
Q: How long should we keep audit-trail data?
A: Retention depends on industry and jurisdiction—finance teams often keep 7 years for SOX; healthcare may require life-of-record plus 6 years. Always align with your legal counsel.
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