Chapter 6.7
The Transaction Journal and Audit History
Two reports for checking the books: the Transaction Journal lists every entry with all its debits and credits; the Audit History records who did what, when, with the evidence kept at the time.
When you finish this chapter you will be able to:
- List every entry in a period, with all its lines, for review or for an accountant.
- Find who added, changed, merged or deleted something, and when.
- Open the recorded evidence of an event.
The Transaction Journal
Reports → Transaction Journal.
Filters on an account or a name bring back whole entries, both sides, so you see where the money came from and went. Entry summary shows one line per entry. Exports include CSV, and Email sends the run to someone directly. The PDF and Excel exports also name, for each entry, who entered it and when, who last changed it, who approved it, and its status.1
Run the journal for last month with presentation Entry summary and read it through once, looking at the large entries first. Most posting errors that matter are big enough to stand out.
Audit History
Reports → Audit History lists recorded events: invoices and bills added, paid or deleted; checks, expenses and vendor credits added, changed or deleted; accounts edited; entries merged; rules added; users signing in to the company. Dates are when the event happened, not the posting date of the entry.
- 1
Choose dates and users
Today fills both dates. Leave them blank for all history.2
- 2
Choose the event types 1
Untick All log types and tick the ones you care about; otherwise routine events such as company selections fill the list.
- 3
Run, then open the evidence 3
Each event 2 links to its source and to Recorded snapshot or Recorded before / after: the values saved at the time. For a deleted document (an invoice, check, expense or vendor credit) the snapshot shows the document's own recorded fields as they were when it was deleted, under Recorded fields; its lines are not kept for every kind of document, and the source reads unavailable because the document is gone.
As the evidence screen says, it is preserved as supplied: today's documents and names may differ, and nothing missing is guessed. That is what makes it trustworthy for an auditor.
Check your understanding
1. An accountant asks for every entry touching Rent last year, both sides. Which report?
Answer
The Transaction Journal, filtered on the Rent account for last year.
2. A bank fee entry disappeared. How do you find out what happened?
Answer
Audit History, filtered to entries merged and deletions, then open the evidence.
Notes
- Since November 2026. The screen shows the same journal as before; the people columns appear in the exported files. ↑
- Since November 2026 a backup carries the books' audit history. When the books hold history loaded from a restored backup, a History box appears at the left of the filters, with These books' history and Imported from a backup. Imported events are shown as the backup held them, with an Origin label, and cannot be changed. Summit's books have none, so the box does not appear in these pictures. ↑