Reconstructing the bank-payment audit trail
This section does not repeat general payment guidance. It asks whether a later reviewer can reconstruct the purchase-price flow from contract to bank transfers and closing without gaps or assumptions. Each payment should be traceable to a sender, beneficiary, amount, date, bank reference and transfer purpose, while split payments, third-party transfers or changes in beneficiary account should be explained in the transaction file. The objective is an auditable money trail rather than a folder of disconnected receipts.
At closing, preserve the final payment sequence and explanations for any exception so that payment evidence is not confused with valuation, title evidence or other banking documents serving a different purpose.



