Audit Trail
A chronological record of all actions taken on an invoice from receipt through payment.
Definition
An audit trail is a complete, immutable record of every action, change, and decision made during invoice processing. It includes who did what, when, and why—essential for compliance, fraud investigation, and process improvement.
Why It Matters
Audit trails are required for SOX compliance, support fraud investigations, answer auditor questions, and enable process analysis. Without them, you can't prove controls are working.
Examples
Complete trail
Invoice #1234: Received 1/5 by system, coded by AI, approved by J.Smith 1/6, posted 1/7, paid 1/15.
Audit request
Auditor asks who approved $50K+ invoices in Q4. System generates complete list with timestamps and approvers.
How Nexus AP Helps
Nexus AP maintains complete, tamper-proof audit trails for every invoice. All actions are logged with user, timestamp, and full context. Reports are one-click for auditors.
Start Free TrialFrequently Asked Questions
How long should you keep audit trails?
Most regulations require 7 years minimum. Some industries require longer. Nexus AP stores trails for the life of your account.
What should an audit trail include?
User/system performing action, timestamp, action type, before/after values, and any comments or reasons.
Category
complianceRelated Terms
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