Compliance: access, audit log and retention

Sliick Docs ships two opt-in capabilities for regulated industries: a fingerprinted audit log of what got merged into each document, and a per-template retention sweep that permanently deletes aged files. Both are set per template, and both are for the compliance owner rather than the template author.

The third piece of the compliance picture, restricting who can use a template and what it can produce, is covered in Folders, visibility and compliance controls.

Compliance audit log

Enable it per template with the Audit Enabled checkbox. Once it is on:

• Every successful generation captures a fingerprinted snapshot of the resolved merge values, one per record per generation, so the contents are verifiable against the original.
• Entries are written through a protected path that users cannot suppress or forge.
• The Generations tab links each generation to its audit entry.

Use this for contracts, regulated communications, not-for-profit donation receipts, accreditation letters, or anything that needs a verifiable “this is what we sent, and the captured values have not been altered through normal user paths” record.

What the fingerprint does and does not cover. It detects accidental corruption and tampering by non-administrators. As with any in-org integrity scheme, a Salesforce System Administrator retains the platform-level ability to edit their own org’s data. For evidentiary-grade tamper evidence, layer Field History Tracking on the audit records, or export the fingerprints periodically to a store outside the org.

Retention policies

Set a per-template auto-delete window with the Retention Days field. 0 means retain forever; anything else is the number of days the generated file lives in Salesforce Files before the sweep collects it.

The nightly retention sweep:

1. Finds generations whose template carries a retention window and whose file is older than the threshold.
2. Permanently deletes the generated file.
3. Marks the generation as deleted, so the audit trail survives even after the file is gone.

Two safety mechanisms:

• Hold from Deletion is a per-generation checkbox. Tick it on a specific row to exempt it from the sweep, which is useful for files that have to survive an open audit window, a legal hold or a dispute.
• The sweep only deletes files Sliick Docs generated. Other files on the record are untouched.

Schedule the sweep from Settings > Schedule retention sweep. Pick a daily time and click Schedule.

Signature requests have their own retention windows, separate from the document retention above. See E-signature settings.