ABC Ltd., a manufacturing company, has recently implemented a new ERP system for processing all financial transactions. During the audit, the auditors notice that: some User IDs are being shared among employees. It is no

In order to ensure that the audit trail feature is functioning effectively and reliably, it is important to implement specific internal controls which may include the following: Controls to ensure that the audit trail feature permanently enabled in the accounting software and the ability to disable or alter audit trail settings is restricted to authorized personnel only. Implementation of role-based access controls (RBAC) with strong authentication mechanisms to ensure users have access only to functions required for their responsibilities. Change management controls requiring formal authorization and documentation for changes to accounting systems, master data, and application settings and logs of such changes are maintained. Integrity controls to ensure that audit logs cannot be edited, overwritten, or deleted by ordinary users and the audit trail records are stores in a secure and tamper-resistant environment. Establishing exception reports to identify unusual transactions, unauthorized changes, or suspicious activities and investigate and document all significant exceptions identified through audit trail reviews. As per facts of the case, in ABC Ltd., the new ERP system shows weaknesses such as shared User IDs and lack of clarity over activation and review of audit trails. Since an audit trail records all data changes with user and time details, it ensures accountability and reliability of financial records. If not properly enabled and monitored, data integrity may be affected. Hence, the auditor should ensure the compliance of above.