Audit Trail
A chronological record of all changes made to fieldwork data, including who made each change, when it was made, and what the before/after values were. Essential for data integrity and BACB verification.
Definition
An audit trail is a chronological, immutable record of every change made to your fieldwork data. Each entry in the audit trail captures who made the change, when it was made, what the original value was, and what it was changed to. This creates a transparent history that can demonstrate the integrity of your fieldwork records during BACB verification or in the event of a dispute about logged hours.
Audit trails matter because fieldwork data will change over time. Supervisors correct miscategorized hours, trainees fix date entry errors, and legitimate adjustments happen throughout the fieldwork period. Without an audit trail, there is no way to distinguish between honest corrections and inappropriate alterations. The BACB values data integrity, and an audit trail provides the evidence that your records have been maintained honestly and transparently.
Manual tracking methods — spreadsheets, paper logs — generally do not produce audit trails. A cell in a spreadsheet can be changed without any record of the original value. Purpose-built fieldwork tracking tools typically include automatic audit logging that captures every edit, deletion, and status change without requiring any extra effort from the user. If data integrity is important to you — and it should be, given that your certification depends on it — an automated audit trail is one of the most valuable features a tracking system can offer.
Why This Matters
An audit trail protects you during BACB verification by proving that your records have not been improperly altered. It also helps resolve disputes about logged hours.
Examples
- A log showing that a supervisor corrected a miscategorized hour entry on March 15
- An immutable record in ABA Fieldwork Tracker tracking 20+ action types with timestamps
How ABA Fieldwork Tracker handles this
ABA Fieldwork Tracker generates BACB-ready PDF reports automatically. Your fieldwork logs, monthly summaries, and final reports are always up-to-date and exportable with one click.
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