Skip to content
Carbon GPT Carbon GPT Carbon GPT

Activity Audit Trails Tutorial

This tutorial provides a step-by-step guide to using Carbon GPT's activity audit trails to track data changes, view edit history, and understand change logs for your emissions data.

Prerequisites

Tutorial Overview

In this tutorial, you will learn how to:

  1. Understand the importance of audit trails in carbon accounting
  2. Access and navigate the activity logs
  3. Track specific changes to emissions data
  4. View and interpret edit history
  5. Generate audit reports for compliance purposes

Why Audit Trails Matter

Audit trails are essential in carbon accounting for:

  • Data Integrity: Ensuring the accuracy and reliability of emissions data
  • Compliance: Meeting regulatory requirements for data verification
  • Transparency: Providing clear documentation of all changes
  • Accountability: Tracking who made changes and when
  • Quality Assurance: Identifying and correcting errors or inconsistencies

Step 1: Accessing Activity Logs

Finding the Audit Trail Feature

  1. Log in to your Carbon GPT account
  2. Navigate to Administration > Activity Logs
  3. Alternatively, access logs directly from emission entries via the "History" button

Understanding the Activity Log Interface

The main components of the activity log interface include:

  • Filters Panel: Narrow down logs by date, user, action type, etc.
  • Timeline View: Chronological display of all activities
  • Detail Panel: In-depth information about selected activities
  • Export Options: Generate reports of activity logs

Step 2: Tracking Data Changes

Filtering for Specific Activities

  1. Use the Filters panel to focus on relevant activities:
    • Date Range: Select a specific time period
    • User: Filter by specific team members
    • Action Type: Filter by actions (create, update, delete)
    • Data Type: Filter by the type of data being modified
    • Facility/Department: Filter by organizational units

Interpreting Change Records

Each change record contains:

  • Timestamp: When the change occurred
  • User: Who made the change
  • Action: What type of change was made
  • Entity: What was changed (e.g., emission source, activity data)
  • Before/After Values: The values before and after the change
  • Reason: Any notes provided for the change

Step 3: Viewing Edit History

Accessing Edit History for Specific Entries

  1. Navigate to the emissions entry you want to investigate
  2. Click the History button to view all changes to that entry
  3. The history panel shows a chronological list of all modifications

Comparing Versions

To compare different versions of an entry:

  1. In the history panel, select two versions to compare
  2. Click Compare Selected
  3. Review the side-by-side comparison highlighting all differences
  4. Use the Revert option if you need to restore a previous version

Understanding Version Control

Carbon GPT maintains complete version history:

  • Each edit creates a new version while preserving the previous one
  • All versions remain accessible for audit purposes
  • Changes are tracked at the field level for detailed comparison
  • The system maintains who made each change and when

Step 4: Understanding Change Logs

Types of Logged Activities

Carbon GPT tracks various types of activities:

  • Data Entry: New emissions data being added
  • Data Modifications: Changes to existing entries
  • Deletions: Removal of entries or data points
  • Calculations: Updates to emission calculations
  • System Changes: Modifications to settings or configurations
  • User Activities: Logins, logouts, and permission changes

Interpreting Change Log Entries

Each log entry includes:

  • Context Information: The broader context of the change
  • Specific Details: Exactly what was changed
  • Metadata: Additional information about the change
  • Related Activities: Links to connected changes or actions

Change Reason Documentation

For significant changes, Carbon GPT prompts users to provide reasons:

  1. When making substantial changes, users are prompted to enter a reason
  2. These reasons are recorded in the audit trail
  3. Reasons can be made mandatory for certain types of changes
  4. Reason documentation helps with verification and compliance

Step 5: Generating Audit Reports

Creating Standard Audit Reports

  1. Navigate to Reports > Audit Reports
  2. Select the New Report button
  3. Configure report parameters:
    • Time Period: Select the date range
    • Activity Types: Choose which activities to include
    • Users: Include all or specific users
    • Format: Select report format (PDF, Excel, CSV)
  4. Click Generate Report

Custom Audit Report Configuration

For more specialized audit needs:

  1. Select Custom Report option
  2. Configure detailed parameters:
    • Field Selection: Choose specific fields to include
    • Grouping Options: Organize data by user, date, or activity type
    • Visualization: Include charts or graphs of activity patterns
    • Comparison: Include comparative analysis with previous periods
  3. Save report configurations for future use

Scheduled Audit Reports

Set up automatic report generation:

  1. Navigate to Reports > Scheduled Reports
  2. Click Add Schedule
  3. Select an audit report configuration
  4. Set frequency (daily, weekly, monthly)
  5. Configure delivery options (email, download, system storage)

Best Practices

Regular Audit Reviews

  • Schedule regular reviews of audit trails
  • Assign responsibility for audit oversight
  • Document the review process and findings
  • Address any issues or anomalies promptly

Compliance Documentation

  • Maintain audit reports for compliance purposes
  • Ensure reports meet regulatory requirements
  • Include audit documentation in verification processes
  • Be prepared to explain changes during audits

Data Governance

  • Establish clear policies for data changes
  • Define approval workflows for significant modifications
  • Train users on proper documentation practices
  • Regularly review and update governance procedures

Next Steps