Audit trail: what it is and why it makes both control and HR happy
An audit trail is a record of who made what change, when and often why. The audit trail makes the process traceable and demonstrable, without the complexity of tracking down emails and spreadsheets.
The main contribution of the audit trail: Demonstrability of actions (consents, introductions, signatures, approvals) and the ability to quickly explain “what happened”.
Where the audit trail is useful
- approval and workflow (who approved when)
- consents and introductions (who confirmed and when)
- electronic signatures (status and history)
- changes in the employee card (timeline)
- dispute and complaint resolution (fast tracking)
What is important
The audit trail should be legible and traceable: who, what, when. And ideally, a link to documents, attachments and process status. Without this, the “log” becomes just noise.
Audit trail in SmartFP
SmartFP keeps a history of steps and changes for key processes: who created, approved, signed, modified and when. The result is traceability for HR, management and control.