A collection of transaction records. The data in transaction files is used to update the master files, which contain the data about the subjects of the organization (customers, employees, vendors, etc.). Transaction files also serve as audit trails and history for the organization. Where before they were transferred to offline storage after some period of time, they are increasingly being kept online for routine analyses. See
data warehouse,
transaction processing and
information system.
Following are the kinds of fields that make up a typical transaction record in a business information system. There can be many more fields depending on the organization. The "key" fields below are the ones that are generally indexed for fast matching against the master record. The account number is usually the primary key, but name may also be used as a primary key. See
master file for examples of typical master records.
EMPLOYEE PAYROLL RECORD
key Employee account number
Today's date
Hours worked
ORDER RECORD
key Customer account number
Today's date
Quantity
Product number
PAYMENT RECORD
key Customer number
Today's date
Invoice number
Amount paid
Check number
PURCHASE ORDER
key Purchase order number
Today's date
Department
Authorizing agent
Vendor account number
Quantity
Product number
Due date
Total cost
WAREHOUSE RECEIPT
key Purchase order number
key Invoice number
Today's date
Quantity
Product number