作为一个企业经营者,你负责记录ing your company’s transactions. And to support your entries, you should be keeping adequate documentation. This accounting documentation acts as an audit trail for your business. Read on to learn what is an audit trail and why it is essential for your small business.

What is an audit trail in accounting?

审核跟踪是一组文档，可以验证您在您的记录的交易会计书。您的步道有助于跟踪和验证其来源的会计交易。当您在书籍中录制交易时，您将基于业务交易和活动的条目。活动可以包括购买，销售和支出等内容。

Each record in an audit trail includes information about what the event was, who created the event, and the day/time the event happened.

根据交易，支持该活动的文档可能涉及一份文件或一系列文档。您需要保留的一些文件示例：

• 订单
• Business invoices
• 书面估计
• 交易的信件（例如，电子邮件）

许多企业使用审核步道来验证会计条目是否准确。通常使用审核步道的行业包括健康，财务，会计和IT行业。

审计步道的示例

Let’s say your bakery needs to purchase a new delivery vehicle. You might request a采购订单authorizing the type of vehicle as well as the price range. If your business doesn’t have a purchase order system, you may get a written estimate from the car dealership.

Once the bakery purchases the vehicle, the auto dealership gives you a bill of sale that shows things like the vehicle type, purchase amount, and terms of the purchase.

The documents you receive during your vehicle purchase become part of the vehicle’s audit trail. Record the purchase in your business books and keep the documentation in your records.

Importance of having an audit trail

Having a complete audit trail proves to individuals, like auditors or investors, that the information in your books is valid. Not to mention, establishing an audit trail keeps your business compliant with theIRS的标准of recordkeeping.

您还可以使用审核跟踪来帮助调和帐户，计划您的业务预算和管理风险。

It’s no secret that there are a number of perks to having an accounting audit trail. Take a look at five ways an audit trail can benefit your business.

1. Prevents fraud

审计步道的主要目的是帮助检测和防止欺诈。当您有验证会计交易的文档踪迹时，您可以证明您的交易是有效的。

除了证明交易的有效性外，对所有业务活动进行审核之路有助于最大程度地降低欺诈风险。有了更严格的要求，员工将知道您监视和跟踪他们的欺诈活动的工作，并意识到欺诈不会被忽视。

2.帮助审核员

拥有审核步道不仅可以帮助您追踪交易，还可以让审计师和其他人员查找和验证活动。审核步道使参与每个人的审核过程更快，更容易。而且，他们使准备审核less stressful.

例如，审计师可能会在书籍中看到不寻常的交易，并质疑其准确性。借助审计跟踪，审核员可以考虑支持文档（例如发票），以确定交易是否有效。

3. Enhances accuracy

If you want to enhance your financial record’s accuracy, having an audit trail is a good way to go. Audit trails help ensure your financial reports and records contain accurate information. If your records are incorrect, business owners, investors, and lenders will not have accurate financial information to make sound decisions.

为了给自己清晰的企业财务快照，并确保您的书籍准确，请使用审核步道跟踪交易。

4. Finds lost transactions

If you’re having trouble finding a certain transaction in your books, an audit trail can help you out.

假设您对交易一无所知，除了发生的那一天。您可以使用审核跟踪来追踪交易并找出有关此交易的其他关键信息（例如，购买金额）。

即使您不会失去任何交易的跟踪，进行审核之路也可以让您放心，因为您可以在必要时跟踪交易。

5.帮助灾难恢复

如果灾难袭击您的业务（例如洪水），则必须做好准备。如果发生灾难，审核步道使您有机会将损坏或缺少信息拼凑在一起。审核步道可以帮助您在此期间重新创建业务交易。

为了确保您的审核步道保持完整，如果确实发生了灾难，请确保备份所有记录。您可以考虑将文档的纸张和电子副本保存在云中。这样，在灾难中，您的审计步道不会被彻底摧毁。

无纸审计步道

Some businesses might store paper copies of their transaction audit trail, while others might opt for a paperless system. If you decide to go the paperless route, you can avoid finding a place to store your paper accounting records. Not to mention, you don’t have to worry about spending additional money on storage supplies (e.g., cabinets and folders).

On the other hand, you have to also be cautious when using a paperless filing system for your audit trail. When saving documents electronically, label them accordingly. To stay organized and avoid losing track of any files, consistently label your files and keep them in chronological order.

Whether you store audit trail documents in a filing cabinet or electronically, you need to keep your records organized. That way, you can locate and view documentation from an accounting transaction at a moment’s notice.

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本文已从2015年3月2日的原始出版日期开始更新。

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