Which elements should be included in an audit trail for financial models?

• A. Outputs only, with no inputs.
• B. Only the latest version, no history.
• C. Inputs, assumptions, sources, version history, and change logs with scheduling links.
• D. Marketing notes and meeting summaries.

Answer: (C)

An audit trail in financial modeling should capture the full provenance of the model’s results so someone else can reproduce and verify them. That means recording the inputs used, the assumptions baked into the model, and the data sources those inputs came from. It also requires preserving version history to track how the model has evolved over time and change logs that explain what changed, who changed it, and why. Adding scheduling links or run logs shows when the model was executed and with what configuration, enabling exact reproduction of outputs. Together, these items create a transparent, auditable record that supports governance, error tracing, and regulatory scrutiny. Outputs alone provide no view of how results were produced; retaining only the latest version discards the evolution and rationale; marketing notes and meeting summaries don’t document model logic or data provenance and thus don’t meet audit needs.