The fields a traceable close needs, file by file
For the accountant who closes a month for a client paid in stablecoins. A close is traceable when every match points at the rows it rests on. Check the header row of each file against this page before the close begins.
The five fields
| Field | What it is | Why the close needs it | Example header |
|---|---|---|---|
| An identifier for each transfer | A value that names one row of the file and no other. | A match points at the row it rests on, and a row given twice can be seen to be the same row. | id |
| The time of each transfer, with its time zone | When the row happened, and in which time zone. | A row belongs to a period only once its time zone is known. | time |
| The asset and the amount, with fees apart | Which asset or currency, how much, and any fee in a column to itself. | Amounts in different assets are never added. A fee folded into an amount makes the amount differ from the transfer that carried it, with nothing to say why. | asset, amount, fee |
| A reference to the invoice | The number of the invoice a payment or a receipt settles. | A payment is tied to an invoice by its number, never by amount and date alone. | invoice_ref |
| Any exchange rate used, with its source and time | The rate a conversion was made at, its source and its time. | A conversion is checked against the rate the provider states; none is supplied from elsewhere. | rate |
What each kind of file has to carry
Not every file carries all five, and some need a field of their own. "When it applies" means where the file holds such a row.
- The exchange or custody export
- Always: an identifier for each row; the time of each row, with its time zone; what each row is; the asset; the amount, with its sign; fees apart from the amount. When it applies: the transaction on the chain behind a deposit or withdrawal; the reference a withdrawal carries on the bank statement; any rate a conversion was made at, with its source and time.
- The wallet export
- Always: the transaction each transfer is in; the time of each transfer, with its time zone; the asset, with its network and its decimal places; the amount; the sending and the receiving address. When it applies: the network fee, apart from the amount.
- The payment processor's payout report
- Always: an identifier for each row; the time of each row and the day its payout is due, with the time zone; what each row is: a payment, a refund, a fee; the currency of the amounts; the gross and the net amount; fees apart from the amount; the invoice each payment settles; the payout each row was paid out in. When it applies: the reference the payout carries on the bank statement; the payment a refund reverses; the transaction on the chain behind a payment taken in a token; any rate a conversion was made at, with its source and time.
- The bank statement
- Always: an identifier for each line; the date of each line; the amount, with its sign; the reference on each line. When it applies: the currency of the account; who paid or was paid.
- The ledger export
- Always: an identifier for each entry and each of its lines; the date of each entry; what each entry is: an invoice, a receipt, a credit note; the amount of each line, with debit and credit told apart; the invoice number on an invoice, a receipt and a credit note. When it applies: the transaction a receipt in a token records; the currency of each entry.
A check of your own header rows
Send us the header row of each file you close from: the first line only, no client data. We reply field by field with what is present, what is missing, and what to ask the provider. There is no charge.
A header row cannot show whether a column is filled, how dates and decimals are written, or whether an identifier repeats.
What this page does not cover
It says what a file has to carry. It does not say how anything is treated in the accounts or for tax, or whether any figure is right. Nothing on this page is accounting or tax advice.
It covers money received, on the chain or through a payment processor, and tying that money to the invoice, the payout, the bank line and the ledger entry. It leaves out period-end valuation, gains and losses on disposal, payments to suppliers, NFTs, DeFi positions and personal tax.
You may use this page in your own material, with our name on it or without. Revision of 13 October 2026, web3.co.uk/field-list.