The Question posed on LinkedIn:

“Hello Dear LinkedIn friends. I have few questions related to computerized system.

1. In a country where there is a change in time due to day light saving. How does audit trails and reports are managed in software? ( Here software is operated in multiple time zones) Example: if someone logs in at 9:55 AM and start activity which lasts for 15 mins (means completion at 10:10). What if, in between there is day light saving happened at 10 AM and time goes 1 hr back. It will show that personnel logged in at 9:55 and activity was completed at 9:10. How shall we handle impact of day light savings in such case for reports and audit trails?

2. Do we require Audit trails for each activity. ? E.g. If software is prepared to manage documents. And we have some activities like News and Events on dash board for employees which is not critical step or basic requirement of application.

So do we require audit trail for such activities which are not critical for intended use of software. And if yes, do we require reason for each step?“

My reply was this:

“I would timestamp everything with GMT time. That way there is no question as to when something happened. “