Escrow software is good at moving money. Ledgers, disbursement batches, positive pay, reconciliation — that is the during and after stack.
The review meant to catch a bad release happens earlier. It happens when the instruction changes, when the payoff demand arrives, when seller proceeds redirect to a new account, when something in the file does not match what was there last week.
Before disbursement. This is where the Veto Record lives. Review the file. Record what changed, what was checked, what stayed open, who reviewed it, and what the office decided. Export a file-ready record. Then funds move — or do not.
During disbursement. The office releases funds. The systems of record do their job. If the review is only in someone's inbox, the disbursement system has nothing to show an auditor except that money left.
After disbursement. Someone asks what was checked six months later. Memory fades. The operator who handled it may have left. Email threads get purged. The question is whether the file answers.
Most vendors optimize for during and after because that is where the transaction lives. Veto optimizes for before because that is where the office's judgment lives — and where the proof has to be captured if the file is going to defend it later.
That does not add a step. The review already happens. The record is what was missing.
If you want to test whether this belongs in your file, run the self-audit on one closed disbursement. Then use the file test and redaction gate only if the record is missing.