The Procurement Glossary » Audit Trail

Audit Trail

Compliance & Risk

Definition

A complete, time-stamped record of the steps and approvals in a transaction, showing who did what and when.

Explanation

An audit trail makes procurement transparent and defensible: every requisition, change, approval and payment is logged. It is essential for audit, dispute resolution, fraud investigation and demonstrating compliance.

Example

The audit trail shows the requisition, three approvals, the PO, receipt and payment — a clean record.

Related terms

• Internal Controls — The policies, procedures and system checks that safeguard assets, ensure accurate records and prevent fraud.
• Procurement Compliance — Adherence to the policies, contracts, laws and controls that govern how an organisation buys.
• Segregation of Duties (SoD) — A control principle that splits critical steps among different people so no one individual controls a whole transaction.
• Procurement Fraud — Dishonest activity to gain improperly from the buying process — such as kickbacks, phantom vendors or invoice fraud.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Audit Trail?

A complete, time-stamped record of the steps and approvals in a transaction, showing who did what and when. An audit trail makes procurement transparent and defensible: every requisition, change, approval and payment is logged. It is essential for audit, dispute resolution, fraud investigation and demonstrating compliance.

Can you give an example of Audit Trail?

The audit trail shows the requisition, three approvals, the PO, receipt and payment — a clean record.

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