An audit trail is a system that meticulously records all transactions related to an accounting item. This ensures that any changes or alterations to financial records are automatically logged, making it significantly easier for auditors to identify discrepancies, such as unrecognised overpayments, and track down significant modifications.
A system that traces the detailed transactions relating to any item in an accounting record. with no satisfactory audit trail, not all overpayments had been identified
Audit trail concept is applied in all present softwares where any change in the transaction is auto recorded in the software and it becomes easier for the auditor to identify any major alteration depending on the materiality of the transaction.