1. A method for managing the transmission of transaction audit records from a first computer system to a clearinghouse, the method comprising: generating an audit record at the first computer system; in response to generating the audit record, incrementing a first count of a number of audit records accumulated at the first computer system; comparing the first count with a first predefined threshold value; transmitting a predefined number of audit records to the clearinghouse; receiving a signal from the clearinghouse, the signal including a time indicator; and at a time specified by the time indicator, sending a request to the clearinghouse to transmit one or more acknowledgements relating to audit records.