Sales Order Activity History

Glossary

Prerequisites & Setup

Step-by-Step Instructions

Important Considerations

System Impacts & Dependencies

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Overview: Why We Use This Feature

The Sales Order Activity History provides a complete audit trail of everything that changes on a Sales Order. It shows what changed, who made the change, and when it happened, down to the field level. The history lives on the Sales Order itself, on the Activity History tab, and it draws from every object attached to that order: the Sales Order fields, its Line Items, Invoices, Payments, Pick Lists, allocated inventory, Transfers, and files.

This feature supports auditing and compliance, internal accountability, cross-team collaboration between Sales, Finance, and Operations, and faster issue resolution when discrepancies arise. Because every tracked change is stamped with a user and a timestamp, the Activity History is the source of truth for financial audits, dispute resolution, and operational tracking. If you ever need to understand what changed and why, the Activity History has the answer.

Activity History logging is automatic. There is nothing to enable and nothing to click: every tracked change is recorded when a Sales Order is created or saved with updates, and entries are immutable once written. The only action you take is reading them.

In this article the following topics are covered. For creating, editing, and fulfilling the orders these entries describe, see Guide to Sales Orders in Canix.

View Sales Order Activity History: Open a Sales Order, go to the Activity History tab, and review the table of logged events, ordered by time. Each row records the timestamp, the action or event, its category, the field or object affected, the previous and new values, and the user who made the change.

Activity History Logging: This is a behaviour Canix runs on your behalf rather than an action you perform. An entry is created when a Sales Order is created and whenever a tracked field changes and the Sales Order is saved. This section lists which fields are tracked, which system-generated events are captured, and how multiple changes in a single save are grouped.

Glossary

• Activity History: The audit trail on a Sales Order recording what changed, who changed it, and when, down to the field level.
• Audit trail: A chronological, immutable record of changes to a record, used for compliance, dispute resolution, and internal accountability.
• Tracked field: A field whose value changes are logged to the Activity History. Fields that are not tracked can change without producing an entry.
• System-generated event: An entry Canix logs for an action or process rather than a field edit, such as Sales Order Generated or Invoice Sent to QuickBooks Online. These are logged even if no manual field edit occurs.
• Timestamp: The ISO8601 timestamp of when the change was saved (for example, 2026-09-02T13:44:00Z).
• Action / Event: The column describing what occurred, for example Line Item Added or Payment Recorded.
• Category: The type of action logged, for example Sales Order, Invoice, Payment, or Line Item.
• Field(s) Changed: The specific field or object affected by the entry.
• Prev Value: The value before the change. Blank on entries that create something new.
• New Value: The value after the change. On system-generated events this carries the generated identifier, such as a Sales Order Number, Invoice Number, or Manifest Number.
• Created By: The user who made the change.
• Line Item: A single product row on a Sales Order, carrying its own unit price, quantity, quantity type, total price, discount, and notes.
• Quantity Type: The unit a line item quantity is expressed in, such as Each, Grams, or Cases.
• Allocated Inventory: The specific packages assigned to a Sales Order to fill its line items. Allocation and removal are both logged, identified by Package Tag.
• Package Tag: The unique tag identifying the package that was allocated to or removed from the order.
• Pick List: The document generated from a Sales Order listing what needs to be pulled and packed. Configuring, printing, saving, and generating a Pick List are all logged.
• Manifest Number: The identifier of the transfer created from a Sales Order, recorded as the New Value on the Transfer Created from Sales Order entry.
• Promo Item / Retailer Sample: A toggle on a line item marking it as a promotional item or retailer sample. Changes to the toggle are tracked.
• Lock Sales Order: The action that prevents further edits to a Sales Order. Locking and unlocking are both logged as system-generated events.

Prerequisites & Setup

Before beginning, ensure the following requirements are met:

• Permissions:

• Sales permissions are required to open a Sales Order and read its Activity History. Analyze & Support > Admin & Settings > Permission Groups > Sales > Sales Orders:
• View Sales Orders: allows opening a Sales Order and reading the Activity History tab. This is a read-only permission; it does not allow editing the order.
• Edit Sales Orders: allows saving changes to a Sales Order, which is what generates Activity History entries. Users without it can review the history but cannot add to it.

• Necessary Data:

• At least one Sales Order at Transact > Sales Management > Sales Orders. A Sales Order has Activity History from the moment it is created.
• Invoice, Payment, Pick List, allocation, Transfer, and file events only appear once those objects exist on the order. An order with no invoice will have no invoice entries.
• An active QuickBooks Online or Sage Intacct connection, if you expect to see accounting sync events in the history.

Step-by-Step Instructions for Each Action

View Sales Order Activity History

• Important Considerations
• Step by Step Instructions
• Troubleshooting

Important Considerations for View Sales Order Activity History

These “pro-tips” and warnings help avoid common pitfalls:

• The Activity History lives on the Sales Order, on its own tab, rather than in a separate report. You review one order’s history at a time.
• No manual action is required to populate it. Logging happens automatically, so the tab is already populated the first time you open it.
• Entries are ordered by time, not grouped by category or by user. Read the Category column to tell a Sales Order change from an Invoice, Payment, or Line Item change.
• All dates are displayed in ISO8601 format, including Delivery Date, Order Date, Payment Due Date, and Payment Date. They will not match the format used elsewhere on the order.
• Entries are immutable and cannot be edited or deleted. Nothing in the history can be cleaned up or corrected after the fact, which is what makes it usable as an audit record.

Step by Step Instructions for View Sales Order Activity History

Follow these steps or watch the demo video to complete each workflow:

1. Navigate to Transact > Sales Management > Sales Orders

2. Open the Sales Order you want to review and select the Activity History clipboard icon in the top right

3. Review the table of logged events, ordered by time. Each entry includes:

• Timestamp: ISO8601 timestamp of when the change was saved
• Action / Event: description of what occurred
• Category: type of action (e.g., Sales Order, Invoice, Payment, Line Item)
• Field(s) Changed: specific field or object affected
• Prev Value: value before the change
• New Value: value after the change
• Created By: user who made the change

Troubleshooting for View Sales Order Activity History

If you encounter an error, check these common scenarios before contacting support.

• You cannot see the Activity History tab. Confirm your permission group grants access to Sales Orders, and that the order belongs to a customer you are assigned to if your access level is limited to assigned customers.
• The timestamps do not match your local clock. All timestamps and dates use ISO8601 format, which is displayed as recorded rather than converted to your local time zone.
• You need the history of several orders at once. The Activity History is per Sales Order. Open each order individually to review its entries.
• An entry is wrong and you want to remove it. Entries are immutable and cannot be edited or deleted. Correct the underlying record instead; the correction is written as a new entry, leaving both visible.

Activity History Logging

• Important Considerations
• How It Works
• Troubleshooting

Important Considerations for Activity History Logging

These “pro-tips” and warnings help avoid common pitfalls:

• Only actual value changes are logged. If a value does not change, no entry is logged, even if the Sales Order was opened and saved.
• Each field change generates its own log entry. If multiple fields change in a single save, each field is logged separately rather than rolled into one row.
• Line item edits are the exception. All changes made to a line item in a single save are grouped into one Line Item Updated entry.
• Entries appear in the order the backend processes the changes, which may not match the order you edited the fields on screen.
• System-generated events are logged even if no manual field edit occurs, so actions like locking an order, copying its link, or downloading labels appear in the history alongside field edits.
• Only the fields listed below are tracked. A change to a field outside that list will not produce an entry.
• Entries are immutable and cannot be edited or deleted.

How It Works for Activity History Logging

Canix writes these entries automatically. The sequence below describes what the system does when a Sales Order is saved. There are no steps for you to follow.

1. A Sales Order is created, or a tracked field changes and the Sales Order is saved
2. Canix compares each tracked field against its previous value. If a value does not change, no entry is logged
3. Each changed field is written as its own entry, recording the timestamp, action or event, category, field changed, previous value, new value, and the user who made the change
4. Line item changes saved together are grouped into a single Line Item Updated entry
5. System-generated events are written for actions and integrations even where no field was edited
6. Entries appear in the order the backend processes the changes, and are immutable once written

Sales Order Fields That Are Tracked

The following fields are logged whenever their values change:

• Customer
• Delivery Date (ISO8601)
• Order Date (ISO8601)
• Internal Notes
• Sales Representative
• Price List
• Payment Terms
• Payment Due Date (ISO8601)
• Additional Payment Notes
• Terms and Conditions
• Return Policy
• Discount
• Taxes
• Delivery Fees
• Credit
• Status (old value to new value)

Sales Order Events

• Sales Order Generated

• New Value: Sales Order Number

• Duplicate Sales Order
• Lock Sales Order
• Unlock Sales Order
• Copy Sales Order Link
• Configure New Sales Order

Invoice Events

• Invoice Generated

• New Value: Invoice Number

• Invoice Sent to QuickBooks Online
• Invoice Sent to Sage Intacct
• Configure New Invoice
• Generate Invoice
• Send Invoice via Email
• Copy Invoice Link
• Create QBO Invoice
• Create Sage Intacct Invoice
• Update QBO Invoice
• View Sage Intacct Invoice

Payment Events

• Payment Recorded

• Fields Changed: Payment
• New Value includes: Amount, Payment Date (ISO8601), Reference Number, and whether it was posted to QBO or Sage Intacct

• Payment Edited

• Prev Value: Amount, Reference Number, Date
• New Value: Amount, Reference Number, Date

Pick List Events

All Pick List related actions are logged:

• Configure New Picklist
• Print Picklist
• Save Picklist
• Pick List Generated

Line Item Activity

Line Item Added is logged when a line item is added, including during Sales Order creation:

• Action / Event: Line Item Added
• Fields Changed: Line Item
• Prev Value: blank
• New Value includes: Unit Price, Quantity (with quantity type), and Total Price
• Example: Unit Price: $10, Quantity: 10 Each, Total Price: $100

Line Item Updated is logged when one or more fields on an existing line item change. All changes made in a single save are grouped into one entry. Tracked fields include:

• Quantity
• Promo Item / Retailer Sample toggle
• Unit Price
• Quantity Type
• Total Price
• Line Item Discount
• Line Item Notes

Inventory Allocation Events

Allocation changes are fully tracked:

• Allocated Inventory

• Action / Event: Allocated Inventory
• Fields Changed: Allocated Inventory
• New Value: Package Tag
• Description includes quantity allocated, for example: Allocated 5 of Package ABC-123

• Allocated Inventory Removed

• Action / Event: Allocated Inventory Removed
• Fields Changed: Allocated Inventory
• Prev Value: Package Tag

Transfer Events

• Transfer Created from Sales Order

• New Value: Manifest Number

• Existing Transfer Selected

File Activity

• File Added

• New Value: Filename

Miscellaneous Events

• Download Labels

• New Value: Number of labels downloaded

Troubleshooting for Activity History Logging

If you encounter an error, check these common scenarios before contacting support.

• You saved the Sales Order but nothing was logged. Only actual value changes are logged. If a value does not change, no entry is created.
• A change you made does not appear in the history. Confirm the field is on the tracked list above. Fields outside that list change without producing an entry.
• One save produced several entries. This is expected. Each field change generates its own log entry, so a save touching four fields writes four rows.
• Several line item edits produced only one entry. Also expected. All changes made to a line item in a single save are grouped into one Line Item Updated entry.
• The entries are not in the order you made the changes. Entries appear in the order the backend processes the changes, which can differ from the order you edited fields on screen.
• An event appears that nobody edited. System-generated events are logged even if no manual field edit occurs, including invoice sync events, label downloads, and lock or unlock actions.
• An allocation entry shows a package but not a quantity. The quantity allocated is carried in the description rather than in the New Value column, which holds the Package Tag.

System Impacts & Dependencies

Changing data in one area often triggers updates elsewhere. Understanding these relationships is critical for data integrity.

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