How to Clear Audit Trail in QuickBooks?

It might have happened to you at least once that you lose a transaction that you’re sure was there not even five minutes ago but you’re unable to locate it thereafter. The Audit Trail is one great feature offered by QuickBooks in case such an event occurs. Know how to clear audit trails in QuickBooks.

What is an Audit Trail in QuickBooks?

QuickBooks is one of the best software used for accounting and for conducting smooth financial management of your enterprise and thus, it offers a variety of features for your ease.

If you allow multiple users or companies to access your QuickBooks data files, then you might definitely want to enable the Audit Trail feature of QuickBooks. It works as an effective tool for keeping the records of who makes what changes to your files and hence, prevents any fraudulent act or issue.

However, once you turn on the Audit Trail feature, it is certain that your system will slow down to some extent. Along with the benefit of having a permanent record of changes in your files, you will also witness degradation in the performance of QuickBooks.

Why do You Need to Clear Audit Trail in QuickBooks?

QuickBooks company files can become quite big because of the huge number of closed transactions. It may grow to be quite large also due to the unused list elements that develop during the course of the business.

Hence, when company files are condensed, the audit trail related to closed transactions is removed.

How to Clear Audit Trail in QuickBooks Desktop?

Since the Audit Trail function in QuickBooks helps you in tracking all the transactions, modifications, and deletions in your file, it is also responsible for the growth in the size of the QuickBooks files which in turn, slows down the QuickBooks software altogether.

Nevertheless, you can clear the Audit Trail in QuickBooks to increase the file performance. Perform the following steps to clear the Audit Trail:

• Open the QuickBooks software.
• From the upper left-hand corner of the window, select the File command.
• A drop-down menu will appear. Select the Utilities option from this menu.
• If you are using QuickBooks 2021 or earlier versions, select Condense Data, and you are done. Select Clean up Company Data for versions of QuickBooks after 2021.
• You can either choose the date ranges for which you want to clear the audit trail or delete all the transactions.
• When prompted, check all the boxes in the next two screens using your mouse to clear up the audit trails from all the transactions and accounts.
• Complete the task by clicking on Begin Cleanup.

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Frequently Asked Questions (Faqs)

How do I Turn on the Audit Trails Feature in QuickBooks?

To turn the QuickBooks Audit Trail feature, follow the steps given below:

Step 1: Open the QuickBooks software and select the Edit menu.

Step 2: Choose the Preferences command from the Edit menu. A Preferences dialogue box will appear on the screen.

Step 3: From the left edge of the Preferences dialogue box, use the icon bar to select the icon for Accounting Preferences. This indicates that you want to change the accounting preferences for the company data files.

Step 4: Click on the Company Preferences tab.

Step 5: Select the Use Audit Trail checkbox to indicate QuickBooks that you want to use audit trail and click Ok.

All changes made to your accounting by the users will be recorded in QuickBooks from that point onwards.

How can I view all the Transaction change in the Audit History within the Audit Trails feature of QuickBooks?

The Audit History can serve as a record of all the modifications that might be made on a specific QuickBooks file or transaction. It provides you with the following information:

The user who has made the changes or modifications to your files.
The date or the time when the user made the modification.
The content and type of the modifications made by the user to your file.

To view the transaction changes in the Audit History, follow the steps given below:

Step 1: Open the transaction you want to view.

Step 2: Click on the More tab.

Step 3: Select Audit History to open the Audit Trail.

Step 4: Select Show All for an expanded view.

Step 5: Select the Compare tab to get a side-by-side comparison.

How do I Restore the Deleted Transactions on QuickBooks using the Audit Trails feature?

You can restore a transaction that you might have deleted intentionally or accidentally using the QuickBooks Audit Trail feature by simply re-entering the data.

However, if the transaction is lost due to loss of data or some technical glitch, it cannot be restored through the Audit Trail feature. In such a case, it can only be restored by using a backup file.

Follow the steps given below to restore a deleted transaction using the Audit Trail feature in QuickBooks:

Step 1: From the Menu bar, click on the Reports button.

Step 2: Scroll down to find the Accountants and Taxes option and click on it. A menu will appear on the side.

Step 3: Select the Audit Trails tab.

Step 4: Specify a date range within which the transaction might have been deleted by clicking on the From and To tabs and selecting the date by the week or month of deletion.

Step 5: Click on Refresh to view all the Audit Trails within the specified date range.

Step 6: A list of transactions will appear. Scroll through the list and double-tap on the deleted transaction. Note down the details of the deleted transaction.

Step 7: Finally, the details of the deleted transaction can now be re-entered and the deleted transaction will thus, be restored by using Audit Trail.