Use of Audit Trail in Zoho Books

Use of Audit Trail in Zoho Books

It was on March 24th, 2021 when the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, India released a notification that instructed companies to use accounting software that could show an audit trail of all transactions carried out. Essentially, this rule was applied so that the companies could maintain their books properly.

With the release of this notification, the accounting software that companies used was supposed to have the following things:

  1. An ability to record the audit trail of each transaction that was taking place.
  2. A feature to create and edit a log of all changes that happened in the books along with the date and use details.
  3. An ability to ensure that the audit trail feature was always enabled.
Going by this rule, Zoho Books released a fantastic new feature called the audit trail for all the users of India. This is a feature that is included in the Activity Reports module of the amazing Zoho Books software.

Details of New Software Requirements:

With this new rule of Companies (Accounts) Amendment Rules released by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, companies are prevented from correcting transactions and fixing errors. This is to prevent them from hiding any changes. The new requirement of showing an audit trail is a result of insights from previous investigations.

In the past, many companies fudged their books by consistently changing the transaction details. The main idea behind releasing the new feature of audit trails was to prevent this problem. The Companies (Accounts) Amendment Rules mandate that the companies record audit trails of all transactions. It also specifies that the accounting software creates an edit log of all changes that are made in the books. This rule was to prevent any accounting software from making changes in entries.

Even if the businesses have been using software with a weak audit trail facility, it was possible to make the transition. The effort involved comes down to how much data and complexity the current system can possibly handle. The process of shifting to an audit trail system can be done in different phases. Zoho Books is a business accounting software that comes with a built-in audit trail functionality that allows an auditor to confidently attest to the veracity of records.

All About Audit Trail Feature:

The audit trail feature of Zoho Books enables an organization to effectively monitor all activities that happen in the transactions. This way, it is possible to prevent any kind of transaction and fraud. You can maintain a log of all changes that are made to contact, purchase transactions, sales, settings, and even a journal.

So basically, Zoho Books comes with an Audit Trail that is a feature to find out how, when and who has modified a specific transaction. Anybody can access this feature in the activity logs. For doing this, the following steps can be taken:
  1. First, go to the modules called “Reports” from the left sidebar
  2. Click on the “Activity Logs” placed under the Activity section
  3. Now, click on the > Arrow mark placed on the right side of the activity that you wish to check.
In addition, you can also check what has changed by comparing two versions of a specific transaction. You can do this by taking the below-mentioned steps.
  1. Click “Compare” in the top right corner.
  2. Choose any two versions of the transactions that you would like to compare.
  3. Finally, click on “Compare”.
All the fields that were added, modified, or even deleted are going to be highlighted in the colors green, yellow and red.

The Efficiency of Audit Trail Feature:

Zoho Books maintains a log of all possible changes that are made to any record in the application. Some common changes can be sales or purchase of transactions, invoices or bills, journals, contact, or even a setting. Other than the kind of change that is being talked about, Zoho Books is also capable of saving the timestamp and details of all users who have taken an action.

To sum this up, the feature of Audit Trail in Zoho Books offers details on “when”, “where”, “who”, and “what.”

  1. You can know the date and time on which an action was taken.
  2. You can also know the module under which an action was performed. This can include invoices, bank feeds, bills, or expenses. Actions performed under any module can be seen.
  3. You can also get a description of the action performed like creating an invoice, updating the contents of a bill, editing items on an invoice.
  4. Finally, you can also know the user who performed the action. In case a record is changed many times, the audit trail shows each version that has been created, not just the recent one. The user can also compare many versions and track data that has been added, removed, and modified.
Conclusion:
​
It was only with a positive and progressive intention that the Indian government made this rule of enforcing an audit trail for the transactions that get recorded in the accounting software. Therefore, Zoho Books made sure that the necessary steps were taken to further ensure the implementation of an “Audit Trail” feature that could curb transactional frauds.

Zoho Books is a software that enables organizations to stay compliant with the rules introduced by the government so that any unrecorded transactions can be prevented. It must be noted that although using Audit Trail is important, it is entirely on the companies to choose the right software that can offer this capability.
Hence, if you run a company that uses accounting software, make sure that you use software that is empowered with a feature of audit trail such as Zoho Books.


I hope that you learned something new
Follow me for more such posts!

Cheers!
Abhi
(Seasoned Zoho Authorized and Certified Partner)

Feel free to contact me if you have any queries
Email: abhishek(@)encaptechno(dot)com
Call: +1-416-405-8185

    Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


      • Recent Topics

      • How to overcome Zoho Deluge's time limit?

        I have built a function according to the following scheme: pages = {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10}; for each page in pages { entriesPerPage = zoho.crm.getRecords("Accounts",page,200); for each entry in entriesPerPage { … } } Unfortunately, we have too many entries

      • Add Webhook Response Module to Zoho Flow

        Hi Zoho Flow Team, We’d like to request a Webhook Response capability for Zoho Flow that can return a dynamic, computed reply to the original webhook caller after / during the flow runs. What exists today Zoho Flow’s webhook trigger can send custom acknowledgements

      • Bidirectional sync between Zoho Bookings and Zoho CRM - Part 1

        Hey, community members! The default integration between Zoho CRM and Zoho Bookings is unidirectional, which means that any appointments booked, rescheduled, or deleted in Zoho Bookings will be reflected in Zoho CRM. However, any modifications made to

      • Is it possible to edit placeholder text?

        In the master slides I want to make sure my templates have more meaning for the users and want to replace the standard placeholder text with something more instructional. Instead of "Click to edit Mast subtitle styles" I want to have "Click to enter reporting

      • Delay function execute

        I've got a workflow which uses a webhook to send information to Flow, which in return updates a record in Creator. Problem is, by the time this has executed, the rest of my script has run and can't find the (yet to be) updated info in the record. Is there

      • How to allow download of a file AFTER information is collected?

        I can't find this anywhere. Can someone help with what seems to be a pretty basic web function today? - File is stored in Workdrive - Prospect goes to a URL where the file is located - System requests prospect to enter "Name" and "Email" - An email is

      • Add Baseline methods to API

        There are no API methods for creating or querying baselines,  Use case: Customer is notified of the current project start date according to plan via another product/integration. We would like to auto create a baseline (Automated via API) at the point

      • Bulk Fill In & Edit PO/Bill/SO/Invoice

        Hello, I am adding stock in bulk on a PO, the system is automatically populating the Rate (price) and Tax from the item data. Problem is that the bill rate is different from the rate on the item data, so I have to manually erase each and enter the price.

      • Fixed Assets beg balance

        Hello, I trust you are well I'm a new zoho books user and I find it difficult to plug in the fixed assets balance and here's what I have done: 1- I imported the fixed assets data into the fixed assets module as per the instructions 2- the import process

      • Syncing with Google calendar, Tasks and Events

        Is it possible to sync Zoho CRM calendar, task and events with Google Calendar's tasks and events. With the increasing adoption by many major tool suppliers to sync seamlessly with Google's offerings (for instance I use the excellent Any.do task planning

      • CRM Deluge how can link attach file with workdrive file.

        Hi, We have create file at workdrive and would like to link to attachment at crm module by deluge. Right now can only upload it to attachment but can not link the file from workdrive. Thank you

      • Feature announcement: AI-powered document generator in Zoho Sign

        Hi there! We recently announced manual document creation by offering an editor within Zoho Sign. Today, we are excited to announce AI-powered document generation to help you draft agreements, purchase orders, and other important business documents in

      • Permanently deleted files

        Is there a way to get back permanently deleted files from your account if they were accidentally deleted and no longer recoverable from the recycling bin? I know I am probably screwed but I just figured I would ask.

      • Shared Mailbox in iOS app

        Hi, On the desktop I am using a Shared mailbox for our company's general mailbox that somebody else should be able to view. In the iOS app however I can't find it? Old sources on the internet says this isn't possible but that can't be right? Somebody

      • Tip #41- Simplify Compliance and Efficiency with Zoho Assist’s Data Cleanup Feature- 'Insider Insights'

        Managing device data efficiently is just as important as securing remote access. With Zoho Assist’s Data Cleanup feature, admins can easily remove outdated or unnecessary device records, keeping the console organized and secure. This action is carried

      • Revenue Management: #6 Revenue Recognition in Professional Services Industry

        If you run a consulting firm, agency, or any service-based business, you have a situation where you have signed the contract, maybe even sent the invoice, and have received some initial payments. So, can you consider this as revenue? What if the project

      • Zoho fsm scheduled maintenance dispatch

        Hi, I'm reaching out regarding an issue I'm encountering with the Scheduled Maintenance feature in Zoho FSM. I’m trying to configure it so that it automatically dispatches all maintenance jobs scheduled within the next 150 days, starting from today. However,

      • Template modifiactions

        Hello, I am struggling with the templates in ZOHO Books. Especially with the placement of some items, like company address, ship to, bill to etc.  For example: One item I like from template X (placement of ship to and bill to next to each other in the

      • zoho.inventory.getRecords returns no records

        I running a custom function (Deluge) in Zoho Flow with a connection to Zoho Inventory. To debug the problem, I created the test function below. It returns "Number of contacts fetched: 0". This confirms that there's no issue with the org ID or connection

      • Zoho Campaigns Event timestamps do not propagate to Zoho CRM

        We have integrated Zoho CRM and Zoho Campaigns. But when looking at Contact records, the Campaign event data is missing the actual timestamps: especially when a particular email was sent. They're not in the Campaigns related list, and the cannot be found

      • Feature announcement - Simplifying document creation with Zoho Sign

        Hi there, We are pleased to announce the release of our document creation feature, enabling you to create, edit, and finalize documents like agreements, purchase orders, and contracts without relying on external tools or applications. <br> This

      • Integrating File Attachments in Zoho Flow Email Notifications

        Hi, I would like to be able to send an email once an entry is made in a form, and in this email, I would like to attach a file that has been added to the form using the ImageUpload (or FileUpload) widget. So, I started by creating a flow that will trigger

      • Zoho Mail SMTP IP addresses

        We are using Zoho Mail and needs to whitelist IP for some redirections from your service to another e-mails. You can provide IP address list for Zohomail SMTP servers?

      • Zoho project purchases

        Hi Folks, I think having a purchase module in projects will help in putting together a project p and L. Project wise purchases and expenses.  Do let me know your thoughts.

      • Create Tasklist with Tasklist Template using API v3

        In the old API, we could mention the parameter 'task_template_id' when creating a tasklist via API to apply a tasklist template: https://www.zoho.com/projects/help/rest-api/tasklists-api.html#create-tasklist In API v3 there does not seem to be a way to

      • How can I restore all the deleted Time entries of a Task in Zoho Projects

        How can I restore all the deleted Time entries of a Task in Zoho Projects? Query: In Zoho Projects, I cloned a task and deleted the time entries from the cloned task. However, this also deleted the time entries from the original task. How can I restore

      • Is there a way to make an account inactive in ZoHo Desk

        We have a few Clients "Accounts" that we no longer do business with. It would be beneficial for them to not show up in lists. However, we want to go back and view tickets, time, etc.

      • How to set the value of the Phone field importing contacts in Zoho Desk

        Hi everyone, i'm new in Zoho Desk, we're setting up the environment and i'm importing contacts from another CRM using a file CSV and i'm getting a problem with phone numbers (italian): the leading zero is cut away, also if the value is inside double quotes.

      • Set Custom Icon for Custom Modules in new Zoho CRM UI

      • Deprecation Notice: OpenAI Assistants API will be shut down on August 26, 2026

        I recieved this email from openAI what does it means for us that are using the integration and what should we do? Earlier this year, we shared our plan to deprecate the Assistants API once the Responses API reached feature parity. With the launch of Conversations,

      • How to center a field inside a section?

        I’ve been trying to center a field inside a section in Zoho Canvas. When I align it visually, it looks centered in the editor, but after clicking Save, the field appears misaligned on the actual canvas. I also tried setting the field to full width, but

      • Kaizen #192 - Implementing Custom Token Persistence in Python SDK

        Welcome back to another week of Kaizen! Last week, we discussed how to implement Login with Zoho using OAuth 2.0 and saw how to bring it to life in a real-world application with the Zoho CRM Python SDK. We also discussed how Zylker Academy built a custom

      • Showing the map along with mileage expense

        When you use the GPS to track mileage, it shows you the map of the actual path travelled. It would be very useful and practical to save that map with the mileage expense, so that when the report is created, it provides a map of each mileage expense associated

      • Enable Validation Rule for Multi-Select Picklist Field

        Zoho, Please allow validation rules for multi-select fields.

      • File Upload field not showing in workflow

        Hi, I have added a field on Zoho CRM. I want to use it in a workflow where that particular field is updated based on another field, however it is not showing up in the field list to select it in the workflow. Why is this please?

      • CRM Custom function updating a module record shows the Super Admin user as the record modifier

        Dear Zoho CRM Team, Is there any way to update this so that when a custom function has updated a record the Super Admin user doesn't become the modifier? This happens on the record as a modifier and shows up in the audit logs. It would be more useful

      • Best practice importing items and matching assemblies

        Hi, I was wondering what would be the best practice to import items and composite items (assemblies) From my backup, what should I import first? The items or the composite items? I am on Zoho one, using inventory and books. Kind regards, Sabine

      • Best way to fetch employee names from Zoho People into Zoho Creator Inventory Stock Form field Employee Name Lookup

        Hi Team, I have a requirement in my Zoho Creator application (Inventory Stock Adjustment) where I need to fetch employee names from Zoho People and use them as a lookup in a form. Currently, I am considering using an integration field to fetch this data

      • get file api is returning Junk data

        I am working on extension development where at one point I need to retrieve attachments on records I found out I can use only invokeconnection and not invokeurl in extension development The invoke connection returns the image in raw binary format. When

      • Need help with message box

        End user updates many records at once. Each have unique serial number. They want a confirmation box that says starting number, ending number and qty. Is there any way to do this? I been searching and asking support but seems like no great solution.

      • Next Page