The Change Log records modifications to data in Business Central at the field level. When enabled, it captures who changed a value, when the change occurred, and what the old and new values were. This is useful for audit trails, troubleshooting data issues, and meeting compliance requirements.
Tracking is opt-in, you choose which tables and fields to monitor. This keeps the log focused and avoids unnecessary database growth.
Step 1: Open Change Log Setup
- Search for Change Log Setup using
Alt + Q. - The setup page has a single toggle at the top: Change Log Activated.
- Enable it to turn on change logging.
Without this toggle enabled, no changes are recorded regardless of which tables you have configured.
Step 2: Select Tables to Track
- On the Change Log Setup page, select Tables from the action bar (or navigate to the Change Log Setup (Table) list).
- You will see a list of all tables in Business Central. Each row represents one table and has three columns for tracking inserts, modifications, and deletions:
- Log Insertion, records when a new record is created
- Log Modification, records when a field value changes
- Log Deletion, records when a record is deleted
- For each column, set the value to:
- None, do not track
- All Fields, track every field on the table
- Some Fields, track only selected fields (recommended for large tables)
Step 3: Select Specific Fields (Some Fields)
Using All Fields on frequently updated tables, such as Sales Header or Item Ledger Entry, can generate a large volume of log entries. For these tables, tracking only the fields you care about is more practical.
- Set Log Modification to Some Fields for the relevant table.
- Select Fields from the action bar on that row.
- A list of all fields on the table appears. Enable Log for each field you want to track.
Commonly tracked tables and fields:
| Table | Fields worth tracking |
|---|---|
| Customer | Payment Terms Code, Credit Limit (LCY), Blocked |
| Vendor | Payment Terms Code, Blocked, Bank Account No. |
| Item | Unit Price, Base Unit of Measure, Blocked |
| G/L Account | Account Type, Gen. Posting Type, Blocked |
| User Setup | All fields, monitors permission changes |
Step 4: View Change Log Entries
- Search for Change Log Entries using
Alt + Q. - The list shows all recorded changes with the following columns:
- Date and Time, when the change occurred
- User ID, who made the change
- Table Name, which table was affected
- Field Name, which field changed
- Old Value, the value before the change
- New Value, the value after the change
- Type of Change, Insertion, Modification, or Deletion
Step 5: Filter Entries
The Change Log Entries list can grow large. Use filters to narrow down what you are looking for.
Useful filter combinations:
- User ID = a specific user, see all changes made by that person
- Table Name = Customer, see all changes to customer records
- Date and Time, filter to a specific date range
- Field Name = Blocked, find all records that were blocked or unblocked
- Select Filter or use the column headers to apply filters directly.
- To clear filters, select Reset Filters.
Step 6: Archive or Delete Old Entries
Change log entries accumulate over time. Business Central does not delete them automatically.
- Search for Delete Change Log Entries using
Alt + Q. - Set the Before Date to remove entries older than a specific date.
- Run the report to delete the entries.
Schedule this as a periodic maintenance task, especially if you are tracking high-volume tables.
Performance Considerations
Tracking too many tables or using All Fields on large, frequently updated tables will increase database size and can slow down data entry. A few practical guidelines:
- Avoid tracking G/L Entry, Item Ledger Entry, or Value Entry, these are high-volume tables and the data is already auditable through the posting structure.
- Start with a small set of sensitive tables and expand only if needed.
- Review the log size periodically and archive old entries.
- Use Some Fields rather than All Fields wherever possible.
To manage which users have access to Change Log Setup and Entries, see How to Configure Security Groups in Business Central.