www.dataescape.com/audit-trails-and-document-tracking
Document tracking and audit trails are among the most effective methods to ensure accountability, transparency, and also to ensure compliance with the regulations. But the method you use to document your files makes an enormous difference in how easy it is to track document activity. Paper isn’t reliable and digital storage can also be difficult to find and manage when you need it. Choosing a document management system that has powerful features like audit trails is essential to establishing and maintaining accurate records of who was who, what, when and where to make every modification to your documents.
An audit trail used to track document activity can assist you in improving your workflow, make faster decisions, and pinpoint bottlenecks in your processes. Audit trails, for instance they can reveal that an employee takes a long time to review or sign the document. This provides an opportunity to rethink the process and make changes to increase efficiency.
In many industries, audit trails are a mandatory part of ensuring regulatory compliance. By demonstrating compliance with regulations using clear and concise evidence organizations can avoid costly violations.
A good audit trail will include timestamps and user identifications as well as action descriptions. This will provide a complete report for every document status change, along with the person the person who initiated it. This level of detail also helps to reveal who is accountable for any mistakes or unauthorised modifications. It also assists in preventing fraud by giving investigators the ability to trace any suspicious activity.