When a payment is disputed, denied, or unapplied
Prove what was paid — with the records.
When someone says a payment wasn’t made, posted, credited, reimbursed, or applied correctly, the question is factual: what do the records show? The Proof of Payment Packet organizes checks, ACH traces, card statements, wire confirmations, and supporting documentation into a clear payment timeline, source-document index, and missing-record list — for attorney, CPA, fiduciary, insurer, or family-member review.
Built by HopkinsForensic. Powered by StatementProof workpapers.
Why this matters
Payment disputes are factual disputes
When a payment is disputed, the answer is almost always in the records — but the records are usually scattered across multiple sources. A check stub here, a bank statement there, an ACH confirmation in an email, a credit-card line item, a wire transfer receipt buried in a binder. Until those records are gathered, indexed, and put into a clear timeline, no reviewer — attorney, CPA, fiduciary, insurer, or family member — can see what was actually paid and when. The Proof of Payment Packet does that organization work. It doesn’t argue the dispute. It doesn’t assess fault. It produces a source-referenced record of what the documents show: amount, date, payment method, sender, recipient, supporting reference, and whether the records show the payment was applied as intended. The next reviewer takes it from there.
Who this is for
Matters where someone needs to prove a payment was made
- Families disputing a missing or misapplied payment on a loved one’s account
- Beneficiaries or trustees disputing trust or estate reimbursements
- Small business owners disputing vendor payments, refunds, or partner distributions
- Insurance reimbursement claimants disputing whether a payment was issued, received, or applied
- Healthcare patients disputing whether copayments, premiums, or out-of-pocket payments were credited
- Attorneys gathering payment evidence for client matters
- CPAs reconciling payment records for compilation or tax work
- Anyone who needs to prove a payment happened and how
What this handles
Payment record types this packet organizes
- Bank statements showing the payment debit or credit
- Cancelled checks and check images
- ACH transfer records and confirmation numbers
- Wire transfer receipts and Fed reference numbers
- Credit card and debit card statements
- Money order and cashier’s check receipts
- Payment apps (Venmo, Zelle, PayPal, Cash App) records
- Provider, vendor, or recipient acknowledgments
- EOBs, billing statements, or remittance advice showing payment application
- Correspondence referencing the payment
What you receive
The five deliverables
- Payment timeline — chronological view of every documented payment, with amount, date, method, sender, and recipient
- Source-document index — every payment-related document indexed by source, date, account, and type
- Proof-of-payment exhibit list — each documented payment cross-referenced to the underlying source documents that support it
- Check / ACH / card / wire trace summary — payment-method-specific summaries showing reference numbers, routing, and clearance status as documented
- Missing-record list — gaps in payment documentation identified by date, account, or method, so follow-up requests are clear
Plus a short summary memo describing what payments were documented, what supporting evidence was found, and what follow-up items remain.
When this fits
Common matters for the Proof of Payment Packet
The Proof of Payment Packet can be the right starting point whenever a payment is disputed and the next reviewer needs the records organized first. Common scenarios:
- Need payment records organized before a deeper review → Record Chronology Packet
- Vendor or supplier payments at issue → Vendor / Payment Irregularities
- Healthcare or provider billing payments at issue → Healthcare Billing Irregularities
- Insurance reimbursement payments at issue → Insurance Reimbursement Packet
- Trust or estate reimbursement payments at issue → Trust / Estate Accounting Review
- Need to trace where deposits or transfers went → Source Deposit Tracing
- General records review, defined scope → StatementProof Starter Review
How it works
Intake, scope, and secure record transfer
Intake is through a written scope review. You describe what payment is disputed, what records you have, what’s missing, and what the next reviewer needs to see. FinancialProofReview confirms scope, organizes the records into the five deliverables, and provides a short summary memo. All record transfer is handled through a secure document exchange — not email. Record handling and retention are addressed as part of the engagement scope.
What this is and is not
Records organization — not a fault determination or advice
The Proof of Payment Packet organizes payment records and produces a timeline, source-document index, exhibit list, trace summary, and missing-record list. It does not provide legal advice, tax advice, medical advice, expert reports, damages opinions, or testimony. It does not determine fault, recommend legal strategy, or guarantee any specific dispute outcome. It does not assess whether a payment was legally owed or improperly withheld — only what the documents show was paid, when, and how. Expert-witness engagements, if needed, would require a separately retained qualified expert. The usefulness of any packet depends on the completeness of the records made available.
Methodology
Built on StatementProof workpapers
StatementProof is the structured workpaper system behind FinancialProofReview. Each engagement runs through the same disciplined process: source documents are indexed, transactions are reconciled, and findings are organized into reviewer-grade workpapers rather than narrative memos.
FinancialProofReview engagements are led by a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) with subject-matter expertise in forensic accounting, fraud examination, and financial-record review. Reviews are conducted from a fraud-examination perspective and produce workpaper-style analysis, summaries, timelines, and issue lists. The work is financial-record review support, not legal advice, law-enforcement authority, charging decisions, or testimony.
The methodology is operated by HopkinsForensic, an independent forensic-accounting firm.
Start here
Start with the records you have
If a payment is disputed and the records are scattered across statements, emails, receipts, and correspondence, the first step is an intake review to confirm scope and what’s available. The Proof of Payment Packet organizes the records into a clear payment timeline and exhibit list from there.
About this review service
FinancialProofReview and HopkinsForensic provide forensic accounting and financial-record review support. They are not a law firm, retained forensic expert firm, damages calculation firm, tax advisor, or expert witness service. They do not provide legal advice, tax advice, medical advice, expert reports, damages opinions, or trial testimony. The scope and usefulness of any review depends on the records available.