Symptom
Universal Retention Period set to e.g. 730 days but Change Audit reports still capturing data up to 3 years old.
Environment
SAP SuccessFactors HCM
Reproducing the Issue
- Go to Manage Audit Configuration
- Set "Universal Retention Period" to 730 days.
- Then trigger a Change Audit Job.
- The audit captures data older than the retention period.
- No "Specific Retention Policies" have been created to account for the presence of data older than the Universal Retention Period.
Cause
Per KBA 3286668 3286668 - What's the oldest date that can be pulled in Change Audit Report for an instance? the default Universal Retention Period is set to 730 days (2 years).
When the default is being used, EC and MDF data is excluded from the auto-purging, unless explicitly confirmed by manually clicking the “Save” button again in the Manage Audit Configuration UI.
Additionally, even after confirming the retention settings, EC Employment Information (e.g. jobInfo, employmentInfo, Payment Information) and Personal Information (e.g. personInfo, globalInfo, phoneInfo) audit data is not included in the audit purge process. This is expected behavior based on current system design.
Currently, EC Employment Information & EC Personal Information audit data can only be purged through the DRTM Master Data Purge job.
Also note:
Not all EC audit data is purged completely. For Personal Information audit data, the system always retains the most recent revision (i.e., the record with the highest revision number) even if it's older than the retention period.
For example:
If the “Date of Birth” field has 3 audit records (in year 2018, 2019, 2020), only the 2020 version (max revision) will be retained in the Change Audit Report, while the 2018 and 2019 records will be purged.
Resolution
If customers would like to proceed with purging EC and MDF data (excluding EC - Employment Information/Personal Information data) older than 730 days, they must manually click the “Save” button again in the Manage Audit Configuration UI.
This action serves as a double confirmation, allowing the system to purge eligible EC/MDF data entirely.
For purging Employment Information or Personal Information audit data:
- Use the DRTM Master Data Purge job to remove related historical records.
See Also
3286668 - What's the oldest date that can be pulled in Change Audit Report for an instance?
Access to Audit Data Now Limited to the Last 3 Years | SAP Help Portal
Keywords
SuccessFactors, Manage Audit Configuration, Universal Retention Period, Change Audit, 730, 1095, EC, MDF, Specific Retention Policy. , KBA , LOD-SF-PLT-CHA , Change Audit , Problem