Capture the complete decision chain
Retain the business request, budget confirmation, sourcing route, specification versions, bidder communications, submissions, evaluator declarations, scores, moderation, due diligence, award approval and contract reference. Use stable identifiers across these records.
Make records trustworthy
Record actor, timestamp, tenant, action, object, previous value, new value and source. Protect audit records from ordinary editing, synchronise time, apply least privilege and retain exportable evidence. Redact sensitive data only through a governed process that leaves a trace.
Control changes and exceptions
Require reasons and authority for reopened events, score changes, late submissions, sole-source decisions, threshold overrides, bank-detail changes and vendor-status overrides. Expire exceptions and record compensating controls.
Test audit readiness
Sample transactions by risk, trace them end to end and reconcile application events with approvals, notifications and downstream ERP records. Track missing evidence, orphan records, privilege conflicts and unresolved exceptions as control failures.
Related resources
Sources and research basis
This guide distinguishes general control recommendations from legal requirements. It is general information, not legal advice; applicability varies by entity, sector, jurisdiction and contract.