What Is an Audit Trail?
An audit trail refers to the detailed log of actions taken on a submission or deal record. In MCA and small business lending, this means documenting when a packet was received, what fields were parsed, which flags were raised, and how statuses were updated.
Audit trails typically appear in systems of record and operational dashboards. Operators and underwriters use them to retrace steps, validate decisions, and answer questions about how an outcome was reached.
How Does an Audit Trail Work?
Audit trails are built by logging key events at every step of the workflow.
- Event capture: Each action, such as parsing a bank statement or setting the “underwriting ready” status, is recorded with a timestamp.
- Field logging: Changes to key values, like balance calculations or risk flags, are noted in detail.
- Status tracking: Updates to deal status are logged, creating a step-by-step progression.
- Traceability: Records can be reviewed later to confirm accuracy or resolve disputes.
In Heron, audit trails are automatically created as part of scrubbing and write-back.
- Automated capture: Each parsed field, completeness score, or fraud flag is logged with context.
- CRM integration: Logs are written into CRM notes or backend fields for visibility.
- Change history: Every write-back and update is tied to an audit record.
- Next action: If a deal is challenged or a decision needs review, the audit trail provides a full reconstruction of what happened.
This creates trust and accountability in every stage of the workflow.
Why Is an Audit Trail Important?
For brokers and funders, audit trails are important because they eliminate uncertainty about how a decision was made. Without them, operators and underwriters have no way to validate why certain data was flagged or changed.
Heron makes audit trails especially powerful by automating them at scale. Teams gain speed without losing transparency, and they can always retrace the flow of a deal when needed.
Common Use Cases
Audit trails are applied across intake and underwriting operations.
- Recording when and how bank statements were parsed.
- Logging detected anomalies like NSFs, duplicates, or tampering flags.
- Tracking when statuses like underwriting ready were set.
- Documenting missing-info requests triggered automatically.
- Providing a historical record for compliance or dispute resolution.
FAQs About Audit Trail
How does Heron generate audit trails?
Heron automatically logs parsed data, flags, and field updates as submissions move through intake, scrubbing, and CRM write-back.
Why are audit trails valuable for MCA brokers and funders?
They give full traceability for every decision and action, reducing disputes, improving trust, and making sure operations stay transparent.
What outputs should teams expect from audit trails?
Teams receive structured CRM logs and change histories showing what was parsed, flagged, and updated, along with timestamps and context for each action.