Audit Trail can be a file in QuickBooks that keeps a record of all the changes a user makes in it. By keeping the detail of each of the changes being made in the file, it can protect the users from any fraud. Despite its relevance, it can be important to remove/clear the audit trail. Such a file can make the QuickBooks file to be very large and it may start lagging. This is why you should learn how to clear an audit trail in QuickBooks.
QuickBooks users can condense the audit trail file and then remove it through the Utilities option. To reach the Utilities button, you need to pass through the File menu in the software. You may also clear the complete audit trail file or can choose a particular date span and then delete it. The Condense Data tab available in QuickBooks Desktop can be the appropriate tab to remove it in this way.
Process to Delete an Audit Trail in QuickBooks
The deletion of Audit Trail in QuickBooks can be done with the use of the Utilities tab. The File menu has to be pressed. Then head to the Utilities option. Tap on the Condense Data button. After that go to the window of What Transaction Do You Want to Remove and pick an option. Now, head to the Next tab in the accounting software.
- Tap on “File” in “QB”.
- Select the “Utilities” button.
- Press “Condense Data”.
Note: In case you are using a QuickBooks version above 2000, you need to pick the “Clean Up Company Data” option. Follow the guide to Import Employees Data into QuickBooks
- On the window of “What Transaction Do You Want to Remove”, choose an option.
- You may also opt for removing any transaction or choose all the transactions to be cleared at once.
- Push the “Next” tab.
- Pick the option for removing the details of the entire audit trail.
- If only one audit trail has to be cleared, then you need to select only that one and unmark the rest.
- Hit on the “Don’t Create a Summary” button.
- Click on the “Begin Condense” option.
Post selecting this option, the audit trail file should get cleared.
Steps to Remove Audit Trails in QuickBooks Desktop
For clearing the audit trail in QuickBooks Desktop, you may use the Condense Data tab. Select the File option and choose Utilities. The Condense Data option has to be clicked. Move to the Condense your Company File page in QBDT. Then tap on the option of Remove the Transactions You Select from the Company File.
- Launch “QuickBooks Desktop”.
- Click on “File”.
- Select the “Utilities” button.
- Choose “Condense Data”.
- In the window of “Condense your Company File”, press on the “Remove the Transactions You Select from the Company File” option.
- Tap on “Next”.
- Now, opt for the “Transactions Outside of a Data Range (to Prepare a Period Copy of the Company File)” button.
- Opt for a date span.
- Hit “Next”.
- Then pick “Create One Summary Journal Entry (Recommended)”.
- Move to “Next”.
- Continue following the prompts.
- Now, head to “Begin Condense”.
After tapping on the Begin Condense option, your chosen audit trail will get cleared in QBDT.
In the End
An audit trail file can help a user in preventing fraud by recording the changes made in QB.
It can be necessary to delete the file as it can create deterioration in the working of the accounting software or may not be required any longer. The post provided you with the process explaining how to clear the audit trail in QuickBooks and QB Desktop. After you complete the process, the size of your company file may not greatly increase.
