Who is this article for?

Users and system administrators who want to understand "File" vs "Audit" terminology.

No elevated permissions are required.

This article clarifies a terminology conflict affecting IT Support Technicians and Auditors, where the word "file" means something fundamentally different to each group.

1. Understanding the terminology conflict

The application uses the word "File" in the computer science sense — meaning a discrete unit of data stored on a filesystem (a document, spreadsheet, image, etc.).

Auditors, however, might use the word "File" to refer to an audit file — the complete body of evidence, working papers, and documentation that constitutes an audit engagement. In the audit profession, "the file" is the whole case, not a single item of data.

This creates a genuine risk of miscommunication. When an auditor asks "Is it possible to delete a file?", they might mean "Is it possible to delete an audit engagement record?" (what the software refers to as an "Audit") OR "Is it possible to delete an attachment?".

2. Guidance for auditors

When you use this application, be aware that the terminology has been adapted to avoid ambiguity at the system level.

• What you think of as "the file" (your audit engagement) is labelled "Audit" throughout the application
• When you see the word "File" in menus, dialogue boxes, or error messages, it refers to an individual computer file rather than an audit engagement

3. Guidance for IT support technicians

When an auditor raises a support request, understand that "File" may mean one of two things.

• An auditor saying "I can't access my file" might mean that they cannot access their Audit record in the application, and not that a filesystem file is missing or permissions are broken
• An auditor saying "I need to delete the file" means they want to remove or archive an Audit record — this is an application-level action, not a filesystem operation

Before beginning any technical investigation, confirm with the auditor: "When you say 'file', do you mean the entire Audit?" This single question will resolve most terminology-driven miscommunications before they escalate.