Are there any tickmark tools that keep year-over-year file retention for audit workpapers?

Yes. A number of audit/workpaper platforms support year-over-year retention of workpapers, and some specifically preserve tickmarks, annotations, sign-offs, and prior-year file history for audit trail purposes.

A few categories to look at:

• Audit management/workpaper platforms
  These usually retain prior-year workpapers in a structured engagement file and keep the audit trail.

  • CaseWare Working Papers / CaseWare Cloud
  • CCH Axcess Audit
  • Thomson Reuters UltraTax / AdvanceFlow / some audit workflows
  • Engagement management tools from firms or niche providers

• Document management systems with versioning and retention policies
  These can preserve files across years, though tickmarks may depend on the annotation layer.

  • Microsoft SharePoint / OneDrive with version history
  • Box
  • Google Workspace
  • NetDocuments
  • M-Files

• PDF annotation / review tools used for tickmarks
  These preserve markup history if configured properly, but retention is usually more about the document repository than the annotation app.

  • Adobe Acrobat with shared review workflows
  • Bluebeam Revu
  • Foxit PDF Editor / PDF review workflows

What to confirm with any vendor:

1. Retention policy: Can files be retained for X years by engagement/year?
2. Immutable audit trail: Are edits, stamps, and sign-offs logged?
3. Version history: Can you restore prior-year versions?
4. Separate engagement folders: Does each year roll forward cleanly?
5. eDiscovery / compliance export: Can you export the retained workpapers in a defensible format?
6. Tickmark persistence: Are tickmarks embedded in the PDF or only stored in the app layer?

If you want, I can also give you:

• a shortlist by firm size (small CPA firm vs. mid-market vs. large audit practice), or
• a comparison table of tools based on retention, tickmarks, and audit trail.