It happens to the best of us. Your mouse slips and you accidentally click delete instead of save--losing an entire day’s work. Your cat walks across your keyboard and suddenly an invoice that was supposed to be for $2,000 is only $200. Though we don’t like to talk about it, sometimes a disgruntled employee will damage information stored in your database. In any FileMaker solution, your most valuable resource is the quality of your data. You can only use your database to make good business decisions when you know you can trust the accuracy of the information.

Whether nefarious or accidental, there will come a day when there is bad data in your FileMaker solution. We are only human, so human error happens. But what if there was a way to rest easy at night, knowing that your business data was completely backed up and safe? That you never had to wonder what a value used to be or who changed it? The solution is a simple audit log.

An audit log is a tool in FileMaker that keeps track of changes to your data. It can record all changes to a record, or only track key changes like when a status field is updated. Logging this information allows you to easily see who changed what on a record and when. For most businesses, this is enough to determine why the record was changed. Having a log gives you more information about the full lifespan of a record and gives you a trail of breadcrumbs to follow when there are disagreements about what a record should be.

Logging is even more important when there are multiple people working with the same data. An example is a client with a purchasing system that requires their users to create purchase orders, then have a manager sign off on the purchase order before the supplies are bought. The most common question they had was, “Who signed off on this purchase?” Adding an audit log to their system allowed them to find out who created and approved the purchase order. Then if they had more questions about the order, they knew exactly who to talk to.

Logging can also be used to restore deleted data. If one of the orders was deleted, the accounting department could go back to the audit log, and restore it from the older logged version. The log gives them the details to restore specific line items from the purchase, as well. This protects the company during tax season, because all the purchase orders, whether they were actually ordered or not, are accounted for.

If you would like to add audit logging to your FileMaker solution, we created an add on that will track all changes to your data--providing you with security and peace of mind. Download it from our website for free! 

PK Information is a FileMaker-certified development agency serving the Tampa Bay, Miami Lakes, and Knoxville regions. We believe that software should work the way you do, with business priorities first and technology second.

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Would you like to know more about data retention control policies and methods to minimize potential errors and security vulnerabilities? We’d love to discuss the possibilities with you! Please complete this form and we’ll connect shortly.