# Audit Trail

> Source: https://netray.co/glossary/audit-trail
> Publisher: Netray (netray.co), AI and integration engineering for ERP and manufacturing systems.
> Section: Glossary

## Short answer

An audit trail is a secure, time-stamped record of who created, changed, approved or deleted data in a system, including old and new values. In an ERP it supports financial, quality and security audits.

## Aliases

- ERP audit log
- change log
- system audit trail
- audit logging

## Category

compliance

## Full Definition

An ERP audit trail captures the who, what, when and often why of a data change. A good entry holds the user, the date and time, the record and field, the old and new value, and the source such as UI, import or integration. It must be tamper-resistant, meaning ordinary users cannot edit or delete it.

Capabilities differ and often need to be switched on. NetSuite records a System Notes tab on most records and offers login audit and setup audit trails. Infor SyteLine can track changes through audit log settings on selected tables and fields, and the Event System can record additional detail. SAP keeps change documents for many objects. Few ERPs log everything by default because of storage and performance cost, so you choose which tables and fields matter.

What to log is a risk decision: price and cost changes, vendor bank details, user and role changes, inventory adjustments, BOM and routing revisions, approvals, and posted journals. Regulated environments add more. 21 CFR Part 11 requires computer-generated, time-stamped audit trails for electronic records, and AS9100 and ISO 9001 expect traceable controlled changes.

Logs only help if someone reads them. Retention periods, protected storage, exception reports for sensitive changes and a defined review step turn an audit trail from a passive archive into a working control.

## Why It Matters

- Auditors and customers ask to see evidence that sensitive changes were authorized and by whom.
- It speeds up root cause analysis when a cost, BOM or inventory balance changes unexpectedly.
- Logging everything without a plan bloats the database, while logging too little leaves gaps in an investigation.
- Agent and integration activity must appear in the trail under its own identity so automated changes are distinguishable from human ones.

## In Practice

A plant discovers that a standard cost on a high-volume part dropped by 12 percent overnight and inventory value fell with it. The item cost audit log shows the user, the time and the old and new values, traced to a bulk import. The team adds a daily exception report for cost changes above a threshold and restricts the import role.

## Faq

### Is the audit trail on by default in an ERP?

**Answer:** Usually only partly. Many ERPs record core changes, but field-level logging for sensitive tables often has to be configured deliberately because of storage and performance cost.

### How long should audit logs be kept?

**Answer:** It depends on regulation and contract. Financial records often follow multi-year retention rules, and regulated industries may require longer. Confirm with compliance counsel and your auditors.

### What is the difference between an audit trail and a transaction log?

**Answer:** A database transaction log supports recovery and is technical. An audit trail is a business-level record of who changed which data, designed to be read by auditors and investigators.

## Search terms

ERP audit trail, audit log ERP, NetSuite system notes, SyteLine audit log, 21 CFR Part 11 audit trail, change tracking ERP, what is an audit trail, ERP change log

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