No deleted history. No rewritten past. No "trust us."
Only proof.
How WorkshopOS creates evidence
Every action in WorkshopOS creates a permanent record. These records cannot be edited or deleted — only appended.
What gets recorded
- Work order creation, changes, and completion
- Production start/pause/resume/complete events
- Material purchases and consumption
- Invoice issuance, payments, and credit notes
- User actions and approvals
What each record includes
- What happened — the action or event
- When — server timestamp (not user-editable)
- Who — authenticated user or system
- Authority — the permission that authorized the action
- Delta — what changed (if applicable)
Revocation without deletion
When something needs to be invalidated (cancelled order, voided invoice), WorkshopOS doesn't delete it. It revokes it.
This means:
- The original record remains in the system
- A revocation event is added to the evidence chain
- The reason for revocation is documented
- The authority chain is preserved
This complies with regulations that prohibit deletion of financial or operational records.
Evidence exports
WorkshopOS can export complete evidence chains as PDFs:
- Work order history with all changes
- Production timeline with actors and timestamps
- Material traceability (supplier to finished product)
- Financial records (invoices, payments, corrections)
- Authority chains (who approved what)
These PDFs are designed to be presented to inspectors, auditors, clients, or courts.
Trial vs. paid plans
Trial and Start plans include a watermark on PDF exports: "Generated by WorkshopOS Trial"
Pro and Enterprise plans get clean, professional PDFs suitable for legal presentation.
Enterprise plans can integrate with certified timestamp authorities (TSA) for legally-recognized proof of document creation time.
Data security
WorkshopOS runs on SOC 2 compliant infrastructure:
- Data encrypted at rest and in transit (TLS 1.3)
- Automated daily backups with point-in-time recovery
- Geographic redundancy across multiple regions
- Role-based access control with granular permissions
- Automated security patching
Data retention and deletion
WorkshopOS retains data according to your plan:
- Active subscription: Data retained indefinitely
- Cancelled subscription: 30-day grace period for export
- After 30 days: Data permanently deleted
You can export all data (work orders, invoices, evidence chains) before cancellation.
Compliance
WorkshopOS is designed for industries with regulatory requirements:
- Immutable financial records (accounting regulations)
- Material traceability (safety inspections, recalls)
- Audit trails (legal disputes, insurance claims)
- GDPR compliance (data export, right to explanation)
For detailed compliance documentation, see company-wide compliance page.
Why this matters
Most workshop software stores data. WorkshopOS stores truth.
When an inspector asks a question, you don't guess or reconstruct. You export evidence.
When a client disputes an invoice, you don't argue. You show the audit trail.
When an accountant asks for proof of expenses, you don't dig through emails. You export the financial chain.