Audit a Completed Workflow
This tutorial covers how to read, navigate, filter, and export the audit trail for a completed workflow. Use it when a project manager, document controller, quality lead, or external auditor needs to verify how a document moved through its review process.
Role: Document Controller, Project Admin, or Quality Lead
Prerequisite: At least one completed workflow in the project.
Why audit workflows?
The audit trail provides:
- Legal and contractual protection — evidence that required reviews were completed by the right people at the right time.
- Quality assurance — verification that all reviewers responded and no steps were bypassed.
- Dispute resolution — a timestamped record of every decision, comment, and file version.
- Closeout evidence — the document package that demonstrates the project met its review obligations.
Step 1 — Navigate to the completed workflow
- Go to Workflows in the left sidebar.
- The default view shows Active workflows. Switch the filter to Completed.
- Search by document number or title to find the specific workflow.
- Click the workflow row to open the workflow instance detail.
Alternatively:
- Navigate to Documents and find the document in the register.
- Click the document to open its detail view.
- Select the Activity tab to see all events for this document, including the workflow history.
- Click View Workflow next to the completed workflow entry.
Step 2 — Read the workflow header
At the top of the workflow instance detail, you will see:
| Field | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Document | Document number, title, and revision that was reviewed. |
| Template | The workflow template used, including the version in effect at start time. |
| Started by | The user who initiated the workflow, with timestamp. |
| Completed | The date and time the final step was completed. |
| Duration | Total calendar days from start to completion. |
| Final decision | The cumulative outcome: Approved, Rejected, Returned, or Completed. |
| Status | Should show Completed for a closed workflow. |
Step 3 — Read the step progress bar
The horizontal step progress bar shows all steps with their completion status:
- Green check (✓) — step completed with a positive decision (Approve, Acknowledge, Sign).
- Red X — step completed with a negative decision (Reject, Return for Revision).
- Grey (with completion date) — step completed; neutral or informational action.
- All steps should be in a resolved state (no blue/active steps) for a completed workflow.
Click any step in the progress bar to expand its detail panel.
Step 4 — Review each step’s detail
For each step, the detail panel shows:
| Field | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Step type | Review, Approve, Acknowledge, or Sign. |
| Assignee | The user assigned to this step at the time it was active. |
| Due date | The step’s configured deadline. |
| Responded | The timestamp when the assignee submitted their response. |
| Response action | The decision submitted: Approve, Approve with Comments, Reject, etc. |
| On time / Late | Whether the response was submitted before or after the due date. |
| Comments | Any comments submitted with the response. |
| Attachments | Any marked-up files or supporting documents attached. |
For quality assurance, verify:
- All required assignees responded (no
No Responseentries unless auto-close was intentional and documented). - All
Approve with Commentsresponses have non-empty comment threads. - All
RejectorReturn for Revisionresponses have a comment explaining the issue. - Response timestamps are within the expected date range for the project.
Step 5 — Filter the audit event list
Below the step panels, the full Audit Event Log shows every system event for this workflow instance:
| Event type | Description |
|---|---|
workflow_started | Workflow was initiated by a user. |
step_activated | A step became active (assignee was notified). |
step_response_submitted | Assignee submitted a response. |
step_reassigned | Step assignee was changed by an admin. |
step_due_date_changed | Step due date was extended by an admin. |
comment_added | A comment was added to a step. |
attachment_added | A file was attached to a step. |
step_escalated | An overdue notification was sent. |
workflow_completed | Final step completed; workflow reached terminal state. |
workflow_cancelled | Workflow was cancelled by an admin. |
Filter the event log by:
- Event type — use the Type dropdown to see only responses, only comments, etc.
- Date range — narrow to a specific period.
- Actor — filter to events performed by a specific user.
Step 6 — Verify comments and attachments
- Click each step that shows
Approve with CommentsorReject. - Expand the Comments section to read the full comment text.
- Check Attachments for any marked-up files provided by the reviewer.
- If required by your governance process, download each attachment and store it in the project archive system.
Step 7 — Check linked records
From the workflow instance detail, also verify:
- Document status — click the document link at the top to confirm the current document status matches the workflow outcome.
- Transmittals — if the document was transmitted after approval, link to the transmittal from the document’s Activity tab.
- Revision history — if a revision was uploaded mid-workflow (due to a Return for Revision request), confirm the revision chain is complete.
Step 8 — Export the audit report
To produce a compliance-ready audit record:
- Click Export Audit Report at the top right of the workflow instance detail.
- Choose format: PDF (for human review and archiving) or Excel (for data analysis).
- The PDF export includes:
- Workflow header (document, template, dates, final decision)
- Step summary table (step, assignee, due date, response date, action, on-time status)
- Full comment and attachment list per step
- Complete event log with timestamps and actors
- Save the export to your project document management system or share with the auditor.
What complete audit evidence includes
A fully compliant audit record demonstrates:
- The correct document and revision was reviewed.
- The correct template (matching the project review plan) was used.
- All required step assignees submitted responses.
- All decisions are recorded with the actor’s name and timestamp.
- All comments and attachments are preserved.
- The final document status matches the workflow outcome.
- No unexplained gaps in the event log.