Where the record begins
The financial record usually starts when the customer asks for work, accepts a proposal, signs an agreement, schedules service, or approves a deliverable. If those events live outside the finance system, reports become cleanup work.
What connected software should preserve
A connected system should keep the customer, proposal, contract, invoice, payment, document support, and review history close enough that an owner can understand why money moved.
FIRMA angle
FIRMA should be sold as the system that connects business operations to finance review: less retyping, better evidence, clearer owner questions, and a safer approval path than disconnected apps.
Use this as a buying checklist.
A serious financial software buyer should ask how the platform handles source evidence, approval before posting, accountant access, migration review, role-based access, exportability, and comparison with the tools already in use.
FIRMA should answer those questions with product workflows, not unsupported compliance, tax, savings, or customer claims.