Chain of Custody

Chain of custody documents every transfer of responsibility for an item: who released it, who accepted it, when, and in what condition. Each handover is a link, and the value of the chain is set by its weakest one — a single unrecorded transfer breaks the whole account of where something has been.

For controlled goods, high-value assets and donor-funded supplies it is often the evidence an auditor or inspector actually asks for. It is also the practical answer to a loss: knowing which link is missing tells you where to look, rather than leaving a variance with no address.