An audit trail is best described as

An audit trail is best described as

• A. The chain of evidence connecting account balances and other summary results with the original transaction source documents
• B. A summary of all accounts in the general ledger
• C. A depreciation schedule
• D. A record of approvals for expenditures

Answer: (B)

An audit trail is the traceable path that links a transaction from its original source documents to the accounting records and onto the financial statements, and it works in reverse as well. This means you can verify exactly where a recorded balance came from—matching the amount in the ledger to the original invoice, receipt, purchase order, or other source document—and you can follow the posting back to the final financial statement figure. This level of traceability is what auditors rely on to confirm accuracy, uncover errors, and detect potential fraud. The description that emphasizes connecting account balances and other summary results with the original transaction source documents best captures this idea. A depreciation schedule, a record of approvals for expenditures, and a general ledger summary by themselves do not provide the full chain of evidence that ties each value back to its source documents.

An audit trail is the traceable path that links a transaction from its original source documents to the accounting records and onto the financial statements, and it works in reverse as well. This means you can verify exactly where a recorded balance came from—matching the amount in the ledger to the original invoice, receipt, purchase order, or other source document—and you can follow the posting back to the final financial statement figure. This level of traceability is what auditors rely on to confirm accuracy, uncover errors, and detect potential fraud.

The description that emphasizes connecting account balances and other summary results with the original transaction source documents best captures this idea. A depreciation schedule, a record of approvals for expenditures, and a general ledger summary by themselves do not provide the full chain of evidence that ties each value back to its source documents.