QuickBooks Audit Log: How to View Who Changed What

To open the QuickBooks audit log, go to Settings (the gear icon), then Audit log, under the Tools column. It records every add, edit, delete, and void in the company file, stamped with the user and a timestamp. Click Filter to narrow by User, Date Changed, or Events, then click View in the History column of any row to see exactly what changed and what the values were before. QuickBooks Desktop has no audit log by that name, but Reports, Accountant and Taxes, Audit Trail gives you the same change history.

The audit log is read-only and you cannot turn it off or clear it, which is the whole point: it is the record of truth for who touched what. Use it to chase down a balance that moved overnight, prove who deleted an invoice, or rebuild a transaction someone removed. Events stay available for two years in QuickBooks Online.

How do I access the audit log in QuickBooks Online?

Open Settings (the gear icon at the top right), then choose Audit log under the Tools column. You can also reach it from Reports, Standard reports, in the Business overview section, where it appears as the Audit Log report. You need an admin role or a custom role that includes audit-log access; standard users cannot open it.

What is the audit log in QuickBooks Online?

The audit log is a running, read-only record of every change made in your company file. It captures each transaction that is added, edited, deleted, or voided, plus sign-ins and settings changes, and tags each one with the user, the date and time, and the event type. It is QuickBooks Online's built-in audit trail, so you can see the full history of any entry.

How do I see who changed a transaction in QuickBooks?

In the Audit log, click Filter, set the User to the person you suspect and narrow the Date Changed range, then Apply. Find the entry and click View in the History column. The history opens that transaction's full change record, showing the original values, who edited them, and what each field became, so you can see exactly who changed what.

How do I filter the audit log by user or date?

Click the Filter button above the audit-log list. The panel lets you set a single User (or All users), a Date Changed range, and the Events to include, such as Transactions or Sign in/Sign out. Click Apply to rebuild the list. The log shows 150 records per page, so a tight filter is the fastest way to find one change among thousands.

How do I view what a transaction looked like before it was edited?

Find the transaction in the Audit log and click View in the History column. The history view shows each version of that entry side by side: the values when it was created and the values after every edit, with the changed fields highlighted. That before-and-after view is how you confirm what an amount, account, or date used to be.

Can I export the QuickBooks audit log?

Yes. Open the Audit log, apply any filters you want, then click Export to CSV in the upper-right corner. QuickBooks downloads the filtered list as a spreadsheet you can sort, share with your accountant, or keep as a permanent record. Because the log itself only goes back two years, exporting is how you archive older activity before it ages off.

Can you clear or turn off the audit log in QuickBooks Online?

No. The audit log cannot be cleared, deleted, or switched off, by design, because it exists for security and accountability. Every user's activity is recorded whether they like it or not, and even an admin cannot erase entries. The only thing time does is drop events older than two years off the visible log.

How long does QuickBooks keep audit log history?

QuickBooks Online keeps audit-log events for two years, after which older entries roll off the visible log. If you need a longer record for a tax year or an audit, export the log to CSV before that window passes. QuickBooks Desktop keeps its Audit Trail as long as the company file has not been condensed, since the Condense Data utility can strip the detail.

Does QuickBooks Desktop have an audit log?

Desktop does not have a feature literally named Audit log, but it has the same capability under Reports, Accountant and Taxes, Audit Trail. The Audit Trail lists each transaction's entered and last-modified versions, who changed it, and the affected accounts. Make sure the Audit Trail preference is turned on (it is on by default in current versions) so changes are tracked.

How do I run the Audit Trail report in QuickBooks Desktop?

Go to Reports, then Accountant and Taxes, then Audit Trail. Use Customize Report to set the date range and add filters such as transaction type or account. The report groups each transaction by its Entered/Last Modified versions so you can compare what changed. For a full walkthrough of tracing removals in both versions, see how to find deleted transactions in QuickBooks. For deletions specifically, run Reports, Accountant and Taxes, Voided/Deleted Transactions Detail instead.

How do I see deleted transactions in the audit log?

In QuickBooks Online, filter the Audit log Events to show transaction activity and look for rows labeled Deleted. Click View in the History column to see the deleted entry's original amount, accounts, and date so you can re-enter it, since QuickBooks has no undelete. In Desktop, the Voided/Deleted Transactions Detail report lists every deletion with its line-level detail.

How do I track changes by a specific user?

Set up separate logins for each team member instead of sharing one account, then filter the Audit log by that User. With individual users, the log clearly attributes every add, edit, and delete to one person, which is essential if you need to investigate an error or confirm who handled a period. Shared logins collapse everyone into one name and defeat the purpose.

Why does my balance look wrong but no transaction is missing?

An edited transaction, not a deleted one, is the usual cause: someone changed an amount, account, or date and the balance shifted without anything disappearing. Filter the Audit log to the day the balance moved and read each edit's history to find the changed field. If a reconciled entry was edited, fix the resulting beginning-balance discrepancy after you restore the correct value.

The audit log tells you what changed, but rebuilding a missing month of bank activity is faster from the source statement than retyping entries one by one. You can import old bank statements by converting the PDF to a .qbo file and uploading it, then match the transactions. When an edited reconciled entry throws the math off, use our guides to fix a reconciliation discrepancy and find deleted transactions, then reconcile the affected month. If you keep parallel records, you can also convert statements to Excel, turn a CSV file into a .qbo, or route vendor bills through accounts payable automation so fewer entries get changed by hand.