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Audit Trail report

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Summary

How to run and use the Audit Trail report in Sage Accounting.

Description

The Audit Trail report is a complete record of all transactions entered. It has details, such as the transaction date, type, category, and value. You can also see at a glance when and who entered transactions. This is particularly useful if you need to trace a transaction or if you’re asked to produce this as part of an audit.

Resolution

You can choose to view a summary of the audit trail or a detailed breakdown. The summary shows a high-level view of each transaction. The detailed breakdown shows each line that makes up a transaction, known as the double-entry.

For example, if you enter a sales invoice, the summary shows the income details and the net, VAT, and total values. The detailed breakdown shows the double-entry values on the ledger accounts. Such as your income ledger account, VAT on sales and trade debtors, as debits or credits.

Run the Audit Trail report

  1. Go to Reporting, select More.
  2. In the Detailed Reports section, select Audit Trail.
 TIP: The audit trail defaults to either the summary or breakdown report. This depends on which one you last ran. If the Audit Trail Summary appears and you want to see the detailed report, select Detailed. If the Audit Trail Breakdown appears, to view the summary report, select Summary. 

  1. To search for a transaction, enter the amount of the transaction or reference in the search box.
  2. To view the audit trail for a particular date range, from the Period drop-down, choose one of the following options:
This MonthTo produce the report for the current month, use this option.
This QuarterTo produce the report for the current quarter, use this option.
This YearTo produce the report for the current year, use this option.
This Financial YearThis option only appears if you enter your Year End Date in Accounting Dates & VAT.
The report dates default to a 12-month period, based on the day and month you entered for your Year End Date.

Note: This produces the report for the current year regardless of the year set in Financial Settings.
Last MonthTo produce the report for the previous month, use this option.
Last QuarterTo produce the report for the previous quarter, use this option.
Last YearTo produce the report for the previous year, use this option.
Last Financial Year

This option only appears if you enter your Year End Date in Accounting Dates & VAT. The report dates default to a 12-month period, based on the day and month you entered for your Year End Date.

 NOTE: This produces the report for the previous year regardless of the year set in Financial Settings.

CustomEnter the report dates you want to run the report from and to.
  1. Select More and choose the required options from the Type and Status fields:
  • Type – If required, choose the type of transactions you want to view
  • Status – If required you can view exclude deleted transactions. You can also view deleted transactions only, or view all transactions
  1. Select Calculate.
  2. To view details of a specific transaction, select the relevant line. From here you can edit or manage the transaction as required. To return to the report, select back on your browser menu bar.
     NOTE: Whenever you edit or delete a transaction you may notice a strike-through on the Audit Trail transaction. 
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  3. To save or print the audit trail select Export and choose a CSV or PDF file format.

 TIP: The file downloads to your menu bar. This might take time depending on the amount of data you’re exporting. You can continue to work as normal while the file downloads. 

The report is ready when a notification displays on the main navigation bar, to the left of Profile. Select the notification bell to open the report.Image

Depending on how you chose to export your report, one of the following happens:

  • CSV – Depending on your internet browser, the file downloads to your Downloads folder. If you’re prompted to save the file, browse to where you want to save the file and select Save
  • PDF – The PDF opens in a new window or tab. Open your browser File menu then choose to print or save the report

To configure columns

If required, you can configure the audit trail to include the following extra columns:

  • Deleted
  • VAT Reconciled
  • Bank Reconciled
  • Created By

To do this, select the Configure columns button.

To include a column, select the check box next to the relevant option.

If you later decide you want to remove these columns, select the configure columns button, clear the check box, or select Reset and Save.

Search the report

Enter a transaction number in the Search field on the report to quickly track down the history of an entry. This comes in handy when you need to find transactions that are on your VAT returns.