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When a transaction is executed (e.g. a business purchase), each documented step taken makes up the audit trail. Depending on the transaction, the audit trail can be highly complex or very simple. For instance, the audit trail for the purchase of a carton of milk would consist only of the receipt for the transaction.

What information should be in an audit log?User IDs.Date and time records for when Users log on and off the system.Terminal ID.Access to systems, applications, and data whether successful or not.Files accessed.Networks access.System configuration changes.System utility usage.More items...?Aug 16, 2018

If discrepancies are discovered in a company's financial data, an audit trail is often the best way to determine where the information is missing or where improper actions took place.

An audit trail is a step-by-step record by which accounting or trade data can be traced to its source. Audit trails are used to verify and track many types of transactions including accounting transactions and trades in brokerage accounts.

An audit trail provides basic information to backtrack through the entire trail of events to its origin, usually the original creation of the record. This may include user activities, access to data, login attempts, administrator activities, or automated system activities.

In general, application-level audit trails monitor and log user activities, including data files opened and closed, specific actions, such as reading, editing, and deleting records or fields, and printing reports.

Audit logs help with security because they provide records of all IT activity, including suspicious activity. Audit logs can assist with monitoring data and systems for any possible security breaches or vulnerabilities, and with rooting out internal data misuse.