The file standard asks one operational question: can a closed file show what happened without the officer in the room? Pull one closed payoff demand first and see how it scores — no account, no software, no one watching. Read the standard →
Pick one closed payoff demand from the last six months, ideally one where something changed or did not match. Open the file and read it as the next person to handle it: an auditor, an attorney, a new hire who was not in the room. Then use the same test on seller proceeds, refunds, or commissions.
Answer for what the file actually shows, not what you remember doing. No partial credit. The file either shows it or it does not.
The ten questions0 / 10 answered
01
Can the file show which disbursement was reviewed?The specific one, named with an amount — seller proceeds of $X, payoff to lender Y — not "a wire went out."
02
Can the file show what changed?The instruction that triggered review: a new account, a different payee, a corrected amount. Named, not just remembered.
03
Can the file show how the change arrived?Email, phone, portal, fax, walk-in. The channel matters, because some are easier to spoof than others.
04
Can the file show what the office checked?Each check named — payee comparison, callback, document review — not "we checked everything."
05
Can the file show the result of each check?Confirmed, mismatch, no answer, not run. What each check returned, not just that it ran.
06
Can the file show the limitation of each check?A callback confirms what was said on the call; it does not authorize the wire. Does the file state what each check does not prove?
07
Can the file show what stayed open?Items expected but not located or checked — missing authorization, unanswered callback, domain not on file. Stated, not hidden.
08
Can the file show what the office decided?Hold, release, reject, escalate — the decision and its basis, not just the outcome.
09
Can the file show who reviewed it?A named person who can be asked about it later. Not "the office" or "the team."
10
Can the file show it all happened before funds moved?Timestamped and signed before the disbursement, not reconstructed after. The difference between a record and a memo.
— / 10
Questions the file can answer on its own
Answer the ten above. This is not a grade on your judgment. It measures what the file can prove without you in the room.
What a low score is not. It does not mean the disbursement was wrong or that anyone did anything improper. It means the file cannot, on its own, show the review to someone who asks later. Veto records the review. It does not approve, verify, or release funds. The office did the review and remains the release authority.
Most offices land in the middle and find the same thing: the review happened, the file just cannot show it. These ten questions are the ones a Veto Record answers. One record fixes them for the next disbursement.
Veto turns these ten answers into one file-ready Veto Record, built before the money moves.