# Reading prospect audits to troubleshoot changes

*Marketing Cloud Account Engagement Specialist Study Guide · Visitors and Prospects · Last updated November 3, 2026 · https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/marketing-cloud-account-engagement-specialist/visitors-and-prospects/reading-prospect-audits-to-troubleshoot-changes*

How to read a prospect's audit table, entry type plus source, to find out who or what changed an owner, field, list or identity, and the plan of action each entry calls for, including removing a visitor association change.

- Certification: Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement Specialist
- Exam section: Visitors and Prospects
- Study guide: https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/marketing-cloud-account-engagement-specialist

**Official exam objective:**

> Given a scenario, apply the appropriate plan of action using Prospect Audits.

## What the exam expects

- Read an audit row's type and source to say who or what changed a prospect, and pick the next troubleshooting step.
- Tell an Account Engagement assignment from a reassignment synced from Salesforce.
- Trace field, list, completion action and opportunity entries back to the asset or system that caused them.
- Find how a prospect originally converted, and remove a visitor association change from the audit.
- Decide whether a question belongs in the audit table or in the prospect's activities.

Key terms:
- **Prospect audit**: the per-prospect table of changes to the record.
- **Type**: what changed (assignment, field, list, creation, deletion and so on).
- **Source**: who or what made a field or owner change (CRM, a user, an asset, web tracking).
- **Activity**: something the prospect did, such as a page view or email open, shown in activity history and Engagement History.
- **Visitor association change**: a visitor's activities moved from one prospect to another.

## Key facts

| Fact | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| What the audit holds | Details about changes to the prospect record | [Prospect Audits](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_prospect_audits.htm&type=5&language=en_US) |
| Form Error entry | Shows the field name and the error received | [Prospect Audits](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_prospect_audits.htm&type=5&language=en_US) |
| Reassigned by CRM | Assigned user changed in the CRM and synced to Account Engagement | [Prospect Audits](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_prospect_audits.htm&type=5&language=en_US) |
| Reassigned by [user's name] | That user changed the assigned user in Account Engagement | [Prospect Audits](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_prospect_audits.htm&type=5&language=en_US) |
| Change by Pardot user in the Analytics section | A page action's completion action made the update | [Prospect Audits](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_prospect_audits.htm&type=5&language=en_US) |
| Change by Pardot user in the Prospect Section | A user edited the record manually | [Prospect Audits](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_prospect_audits.htm&type=5&language=en_US) |
| Web tracking source | Web activity other than a form, form handler or landing page, such as an unsubscribe click | [Prospect Audits](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_prospect_audits.htm&type=5&language=en_US) |
| Prospect Deletion | Logs a deletion or a restore from the recycle bin | [Prospect Audits](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_prospect_audits.htm&type=5&language=en_US) |
| Assignment actions | Don't reassign prospects who already have an owner | [Assignment Actions](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_prospect_assignment_actions.htm&type=5&language=en_US) |
| Opportunities | Managed in Salesforce only; read-only in Account Engagement | [Opportunity Syncing with Salesforce](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_opportunity_syncing.htm&type=5&language=en_US) |
| Removing a VAC | Audits, click the visitor ID, then (Remove Association) | [Visitor Association Change](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=000268062&language=en_US&type=1) |

## Check yourself

- Why should a won or lost opportunity be corrected in Salesforce rather than in Account Engagement?
- When will an assignment action leave a prospect's owner unchanged?
- Which audit type records that a prospect was marked or unmarked as reviewed?
- Why might an archived prospect's activities be missing from the Engagement History component?
- Where does an admin reveal activities a visitor filter has hidden?

## Sources

- [Prospect Audits](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_prospect_audits.htm&type=5&language=en_US)
- [Account Engagement Visitor Association Change Overview](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=000268062&language=en_US&type=1)
- [Account Engagement Glossary](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_basics_glossary.htm&language=en_US&type=5)
- [Engagement History Custom Lightning Component Activity Glossary](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_engagement_history_glossary.htm&type=5&language=en_US)
- [Assignment Actions](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_prospect_assignment_actions.htm&type=5&language=en_US)
- [Assigning Prospects](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_prospect_assignment.htm&type=5&language=en_US)
- [Opportunity Syncing with Salesforce](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_opportunity_syncing.htm&type=5&language=en_US)
- [Allowing Multiple Prospects with the Same Email Address](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_admin_ampsea_parent.htm&type=5&language=en_US)
- [View Filtered Activities](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_admin_filters_show_activities.htm&type=5&language=en_US)

## About the full unit

The "Core concepts", "Exam traps" and "Worked scenario" sections of this unit, its 11 linked practice questions, and unlimited timed mock exams are included with the Marketing Cloud Account Engagement Specialist pack (USD $19): https://www.certifyforce.com/practice-exams