Data Retention

This article applies to All Users.

At AuditDashboard, retention settings consider when data needs to be available for active use, stored for long-term retention, and permanently deleted in compliance with legal, regulatory and business requirements.

Retention occurs after engagements are created, requests are added, files are uploaded/downloaded, comments are posted, e-signature requests are created, and/or files are uploaded/downloaded from folders in cabinets.

AuditDashboard offers several mechanisms for customers to manage and configure retention settings in their portal.

Firm Users and Administrators can:

1. Mark In-progress engagements complete
2. Move Completed engagements to the Trash
3. Move files to the trash (applicable for Secure File Sharing subscribers)
4. Permanently delete objects in the Trash

To review and configure automated retention settings for your portal, contact your Customer Success Director or email [e-mail].

Mark in-progress engagements Complete

Engagement lifecycle automation allows firm users to automatically update the status of an engagement from In-progress to Complete when creating or editing an engagement.

Administrators can set an automated Engagement Lifecycle Retention Policy that marks all In-progress engagements as Complete when information has been accepted, and there’s no further activity in the engagement.

When portals do not have an automated Engagement Lifecycle Retention Policy set, Firm Users are expected to manually mark one or multiple engagements complete in accordance with their firm’s retention policies.

Move completed engagements to the Trash

Administrators can set an automated Engagement Lifecycle Retention policy that moves Completed engagement to the Trash [X] days after the engagement’s last Modified Date.

The Modified Date is the later of an engagement’s last status change (e.g. date marked complete) and the last activity in the engagement (e.g. file uploaded, request status changed, comment added date).

When portals do not have an automated Engagement Lifecycle Retention Policy set, Firm Users are expected to manually move one or multiple engagements to the trash in accordance with their firm’s retention policies.

Move files to the Trash (applicable for firms subscribed to Secure File Sharing)

Administrators can set an automated Files Retention Policy that moves files to the Trash [X] days after the file’s Create Date.

The Create Date is the date the file was uploaded or created in the Secure File Sharing solution.

When portals do not have an automated Files Retention Policy set, Firm Users are expected to manually move files to the Trash in accordance with their firm’s retention policies.

Permanently delete objects in the Trash

Administrators can set an automated Trash Retention Policy that permanently deletes an object [X] days after it is last put in the Trash.

If an item is restored and then deleted again, the deletion timer resets to the time it was last moved to Trash.

This includes the object and all associated information.

Note: Firms onboarded on or after April 1, 2026 have a default Trash Retention Policy of 370 days from the date an object is moved to the Trash.

To modify the retention period, please have an Administrator contact your Customer Success Director or email [e-mail].  

Solution	Object	Associated Information
PBC Request Solution	Request documents	-
	Requests	Request Documents
	Engagements	Requests, Request Documents, and Activity Logs
Secure File Sharing	Files	-
	File Folders	Files
	File Cabinets	Files, File Folders
Electronic Signatures	Signature Documents	-

When portals do not have an automated Trash Retention Policy set, firms are expected to permanently delete objects from the Trash manually in accordance with their firm’s retention policies.

Permanently deleted objects cannot be recovered.