A simple AI use log you can keep in a spreadsheet

Reviewed on November 5, 2026

A spreadsheet with a handful of columns is enough. No special software. And you don't need to log every question anyone types, only the uses that matter: anything that reaches a customer, draws on business information or feeds a decision.

The columns

Start with these. Add more only when a real question calls for them.

Column	What goes in it
Date	The day the work was done.
Person	Who used the tool.
Tool	The tool and plan, matching your tool entry.
Task	One line, such as "first draft of a supplier email".
Information used	The kind of information entered, such as "public product text" or "customer names". Not the information itself.
Where the result went	Sent to a customer, used internally, or discarded.
Checked by	The person who read it before use, or "not checked".
Saved at	Where the prompt and answer are kept, if they are.
Notes	Anything odd: a wrong answer, a complaint, a changed setting.

Nine columns sounds like a lot. Keep each cell to a few words. If that's still too heavy for your team, drop "Saved at" and "Notes" first.

A sample row

Here's how one entry might read, column by column.

Column	Entry
Date	Today's date
Person	Sam
Tool	A chat assistant on a paid business plan
Task	First draft of a reply about a delayed order
Information used	Order number only, no names
Where the result went	Sent to the customer
Checked by	Priya, read in full
Saved at	Not saved
Notes	Changed the closing line

One row, added when the work is done.

Notice what's missing. The row doesn't hold the customer's name or the full reply. It points to where those live. That stops the log itself from becoming a pile of sensitive data.

Keep the log honest

Fill it in at the time. Rows written from memory a month later tend to be vague. Vague rows help nobody.

The Australian Taxation Office tells businesses to make good records part of daily work.¹ The same idea suits this log. Add one row when you finish, not a batch at quarter's end.

Pick one person to look after the sheet. They don't write every row. They remind people, fix gaps and keep the sheet in one place.

Using the log

A log nobody reads is just a diary. Set a regular time to look at it. Scan for tools you didn't expect, uses that touch customer information, and rows marked "not checked".

Australia's OAIC expects ongoing checks on how an AI product performs, alongside staff training.² The log gives those checks something to work from.

The same regulator adds that a rule limiting personal information in AI inputs needs training and auditing alongside it.² A column naming the kind of information used gives an audit a starting point. Privacy rules differ by country, so check your own regulator.

If you change your spreadsheet

You might move from a spreadsheet to a shared database later. The ATO tells Australian businesses they must be able to rebuild their original data if their record-keeping system changes.¹ It's a tax rule, but it makes a handy test for any move. Export the old log first, and check it still opens.

Don't rename columns or reuse them for something else. Add new ones on the right, with the date you added them.

Reference list

Overview of record-keeping rules for business, Australian Taxation Office
Guidance on privacy and the use of commercially available AI products, Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC)