How to Prepare your Business for Audit Trail (Edit Log) Rule?

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Yarab A August 1, 2022

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Regardless of the type of discomfort, procrastination is your brain’s way of telling you there’s something missing - something you need in order to complete the task.

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Identifying the type of discomfort you’re experiencing often reveals a way to address it, and in so doing, remove your desire to keep putting the task off. ( Thanks, procrastination! )

In a quest to make financial processes more transparent, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has made it mandatory for businesses using accounting software to have the audit trail (edit log) feature. This feature will track end-to-end transactions events such record, edit, delete etc.  and enable a seamless business ecosystem. 

Although the reason behind this move has primarily been to bring in compliance and transparency in the business ecosystem, it also aimed to eliminate any disarray within the system, thereby enabling companies to handle their finances better. With the new audit trail (edit log) feature integrated into accounting software, businesses would be able to keep track and aggregate logs that would further help them remain compliant with the regulations. 

However, since it's a new mandate, we understand that you might have certain questions pertaining to the new audit trail rule as a business. How to quickly get accustomed to the new rule? How should you prepare for the upcoming days? To provide you with a better understanding of the process, here's a detailed insight into the brief of the MCA, what it implies, and how you can prep for the upcoming mandatory rule.    

Key Requirements of the Audit Trail (Edit Log) Rule Issued by MCA How Audit Trail can Lead to Increased Compliance and Transparency

Brief on the changes from 1st April 2022, by MCA

As per the notification, businesses that fall under the purview of the MCA and are using accounting software to maintain all financial transactions will require the audit trail (edit log) feature to remain compliant with the latest regulation. 

This would help companies identify any anomalies in data or unusual activities that might have happened in the system. It will also help businesses detect fraud identify problem areas, enabling seamless business processes. 

Things that companies should prepare for audit trail rule

With the audit trial date soon coming into force from 1st April 2022, you might have several questions about how to prepare your business to be compliant with the new rule. To answer that, here are some of the key aspects that you need to keep in mind as a company to prepare for the upcoming audit trail rule: 

  • Evaluate if your accounting software caters to MCA guidelines: As a business, it is essential to understand the fundamentals of the MCA guideline to ensure that your accounting software comes with the audit trail (edit log) feature. To remain compliant with the new audit trail rule, every company that uses accounting software must have the audit trail feature to capture the trail of each and every transaction.
  • Educate your team on the new rule: To ensure that your business easily transitions to the new rule, your staff needs to be empowered. Conducting webinars on the importance of the new amendment and ensuring that your staff adapts to the new way of working will be the key to remaining compliant.
  • Automatic recording of transactions: It is mandatory for companies to investigate the current procedure of recording transactions- whether it is being recorded automatically and cannot be disabled under any circumstances. In case there's any deviation from the same, they need to bring relevant changes to remain compliant with the audit trail rule.  
  • Compliant software to manage business efficiently: For a smooth business transition, make sure that you have compliant accounting software that helps you meet the new audit trail (edit log) guidelines, thereby ensuring seamless business operations.  

TallyPrime's upcoming features

TallyPrime's upcoming product release will enable businesses to stay compliant with the latest MCA audit trail guidelines. The upcoming release will have the following capabilities:

  • Track the edits for masters and every transaction   
  • Capture the date details and username when such changes (edits) are made   
  • Difference report to show the elements of the version that have been modified   
  • Reports are enhanced to filter the edited transactions   
  • Designed to ensure edit log feature will be enabled all the time to meet the MCA guidelines of 'Edit trail cannot be disabled.'  

Read More About Audit Trail

Audit Trail – Meaning & Examples, Why do We Need an Audit Trail (Edit Log) for Businesses, 5 Features to Look in Audit Trail (Edit Log) Accounting Software, Audit Trail – Edit Log the New Statutory Watch Guard for Businesses, How Audit Trail (Edit log) can Lead to Increased Compliance and Transparency

Audit Trail Rule

Audit Trail (Edit Log) Rule in Accounting Software, Business Impact of Audit Trail (Edit Log) Rule, Key Requirements of the Audit Trail (Edit Log) Rule Issued by MCA, Audit Trail Rule (Edit Log) Applicability – Businesses who Should Follow the Rule from April 2022

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