What is the audit trail?

The term Audit trail is used in more than one application in today's business world. Historically, the audit trail had to concern the ability to provide a complete history of any given financial transaction. The idea was to be able to identify each step in the process from the start of the transaction to the transaction. This process usually occurred by creating paper documents that showed transaction progress from start to finish. Today, the audit trail also has to deal with electronic monitoring data, while the transaction does not necessarily limit it to financial data.

Audit trail of any type will include an attempt to create a chronological list of steps necessary to start the transaction and also completed it. Audit trails can be very simplified or extremely complicated, depending on the number of steps associated with the transaction. For examplePULL.

Starting with the acceptance of the invoice, the document is monitored through payable accounts, to the issue of check or electronic payments to balance the debt. At the same time, it can create an audited trail that allows the reconstruction of the production process, contain much more steps and to be very difficult to trace.

The auditor may decide to start the process of creating an audit trail from the beginning or completing the transaction under consideration. The start of the audit process with the latest completed phase and work backwards is often an effective means of establishing an audit trail. However, when the initial and the completion point is well established, it is possible to approach the audit path from both ends, simply fill in the steps that occur between the initial and finishing steps to the transaction.

Using an audit trail can often be an effective tool in managing the financial and other company's sources or organization. In fact, the process of identifying the audit trail can help identify steps within a process that have been unnecessary and which can be removed during future transactions. Another important application of the audit trail is that this process can reveal attempts to manipulate the financial profile of the subject, perhaps in an effort to conceal the fact that the means are missing or have been abused in some way. The audit trail is essentially a useful device to ensure that transactions are performed smoothly and honestly, with the least number of necessary steps used in the process.