# The deleting history

**URL:** <https://forum.manager.io/t/the-deleting-history/370>\
**Category:** Uncategorized\
**Created:** [January 11, 2014, 9:46am UTC](https://forum.manager.io/t/the-deleting-history/370 "2014-01-11T09:46:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 6

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**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://forum.manager.io/u/Patch)\
**Post date:** [December 10, 2021, 12:08pm UTC](https://forum.manager.io/t/the-deleting-history/370/6 "2021-12-10T12:08:01Z")

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> [@lubos](#):
>
> I’m planning to add feature called `Audit trail` which is pretty standard way of monitoring these things

> [@Missing Receipt in History](https://forum.manager.io/t/missing-receipt-in-history/28964/2):
>
> History has Undo button which will reverse the action and delete the entry from history. This has been already pointed out that even if Undo button is used, the event from History should not be deleted. Also, it’s possible she could have created this receipt in another business entity. Audit trail shows entries across all businesses, History is for specific business only.

This sound a valuable feature given

> [@Legal Profession Act requirements for solicitors' trust accounts - Aus](https://forum.manager.io/t/legal-profession-act-requirements-for-solicitors-trust-accounts-aus/38432/1):
>
> The law practice must ensure its computerised accounting  
> system is not capable of amending the particulars of a  
> transaction already recorded otherwise than by a transaction  
> separately recorded that makes the amendment.

> [@Saudi Arabia](https://forum.manager.io/t/saudi-arabia/37812/84):
>
> **Protect your transactions and records**. Altering invoices and their associated notes, or tampering with the timestamps or log entries, isn’t allowed. This is discussed earlier and Manager seems close to what Zoho does but needs to block users from altering or deleting transactions or tampering with their timestamps. The software’s activity logs (in Manager History) should show the sequential stage-by-stage evolution of each transaction, and this shouldn’t be editable either (as is currently the case in Manager).

There have been several other posts requiring records can not be deleted.

The standard answer has been, records can always be deleted from a computer system by a knowledgeable computer administrator so this requirement is impossible to achieve so should be ignored.

If we maintain that logic we are saying no legal accounting system in these jurisdictions can be administered by someone associated with the business. The accounting software must be a rented service.

I think we are over complication the requirement beyond what is legally required.

- The requirement is a normal user can not delete records, not that a fraudulent computer hacker can not delete records.

- Consistent with this is there are computer systems running stand alone software where records can not be deleted by the users. This is a requirement of accounting, legal, and medical records software in many jurisdiction.

- It is implemented in these systems by not exposing the tools to delete the records to the user. It does not preclude these systems from having the facility to enter low level code for maintenance by support staff even though a hacker could use the interface to modify specific records if they knew how.

- I believe the reason these systems comply with legal requirements to not allow deletion or alteration of records is the same reason paper records comply. Not because it is not theoretically possible to alter the records, but because doing so required using the system in a fraudulent manner well outside what a reasonable person would consider appropriate.

As a result I believe Manager could readily comply with the requirements in several jurisdictions to prevent deletion of records other than by recording a second transaction to remove the prior records. The history feature of Manager already implements this functionality. The only time it fails to meet the requirement is when the undo button in used in the history tab. This instead needs to be recorded as an undo transaction in the history log.

Thoughts?

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