DRAFT · GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Our Approach to Financial Clarity
The north star guiding our work toward launch.
Draft guiding principles. WealthProof is in research and development. This document describes the commitments and methods guiding our work; it is not an announcement of general availability or a guarantee that every described capability is supported.
You deserve to understand both your financial picture and the evidence behind it.
WealthProof brings together account records, statements and market information to help you see what you own, how its value has changed, and what still needs explaining. Our aim is to make that picture useful without making it appear more certain than the available information allows.
That means being clear about what was reported, what we calculated, what we estimated, and what we do not yet know. These principles guide how we build WealthProof and how we present its results.
“Clients don’t expect perfection from the service providers they hire, but they do expect honesty and transparency.”
— Patrick Lencioni, quoted by BrainyQuote
Start with the evidence
A statement records what an institution reported at a particular time. A transaction export describes activity within its stated coverage. A market price describes a security at a particular time. Each can contribute to your financial picture, but none answers every question on its own.
We keep source records separate from our interpretations and calculations. An estimate does not rewrite your imported holdings or balances. When records conflict, the conflict needs an explanation; a preferred result is not evidence that one record is correct.
“Reported” does not mean independently verified. An institution’s records can be incomplete, delayed or inconsistent, too.
Give each number an honest meaning
These distinctions help you read WealthProof:
| Description | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Reported | A value, quantity or activity appears in a source record. Its date and scope matter. |
| Calculated | We applied a defined method to available inputs. Correct arithmetic does not establish that the inputs are complete. |
| Estimated | The result depends on assumptions or incomplete information. It can still be useful when those limits are understood. |
| Reconciled or conditionally matched | A particular comparison agrees within its stated scope and assumptions. That agreement does not certify the entire account. |
| Unknown or unavailable | We do not have enough supported information for that result. Missing information is not zero. |
These descriptions can overlap. A calculation can be an estimate, and a reconciliation can depend on assumptions. More decimal places do not make either more certain.
Reconcile to understand differences
Reconciliation asks whether activity between two dates explains a separately reported quantity or balance. Where the evidence supports that comparison, we show whether it agrees, differs, or needs more information.
We do not invent a transaction or a balancing amount to make a comparison pass. A matching cash balance does not prove that every holding, cost basis or investment return is correct. Equally, a difference is a reason to investigate—not automatically proof that your institution made an error.
Additional records can resolve a gap, reveal a conflict or change an earlier interpretation. A successful upload alone does not mean an account is reconciled.
“Far better an approximate answer to the right question … than an exact answer to the wrong question …”
— John W. Tukey, The Future of Data Analysis (1962), excerpt
Make estimates useful and recognizable
Complete records are not always available. A clearly explained estimate can help you understand your finances while those gaps remain.
For example, applying a recent price to an imported share quantity estimates the value of those shares. It does not establish that you still own exactly that quantity. Historical estimates may depend on available transactions, dated prices and assumptions about when activity affected an account. Allocating a fund across asset classes using provider percentages estimates its exposure; it does not establish exact underlying holdings on every historical date.
We identify relevant dates, coverage and assumptions, and distinguish estimates from reported observations. When the evidence does not support even a useful conditional result, we leave it unavailable. An explanation should help you interpret a number; it should never be an excuse to present an unsupported one.
Separate changes in value from investment performance
An account can grow because you added money. It can shrink because you withdrew money. Neither movement, by itself, measures how your investments performed.
WealthProof distinguishes the change between starting and ending values from an estimated investment change after known net deposits and withdrawals. That remaining change can still include unresolved activity or differences in valuation coverage. Known fees and expenses are identified where supported; their absence from the records does not establish that no costs were incurred. Fee comparisons provide context for identified costs; they do not determine whether charges match an advisory agreement or capture every investment expense.
Our separate conditional performance calculation considers the dates of eligible cash flows and requires additional supporting information. It remains an estimate under its stated assumptions. The optional simple annualized change is a mathematical illustration of a pace of change, not a forecast or the same calculation as a cash-flow-aware return.
Make the important context accessible
You should not need to be an accountant to understand the main view. You should also be able to look more closely when a number matters to a decision.
We use concise summaries, visible qualifications and expandable explanations to help you understand dates, methods, coverage and supporting evidence. A holdings-only subtotal should be recognizable as such. Refreshing a screen does not make an older market price current, and an available history range does not guarantee complete records throughout it.
Our goal is to help individuals and their financial advisors discuss the same information with a clearer understanding of its strengths and limits.
“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool.”
— Richard Feynman, 1974 Caltech commencement address
Build methods that can withstand questions
We develop financial rules from source evidence and documented assumptions, then test them with representative records, synthetic examples and failure cases. Tests need to challenge missing data, duplicates, corrections and conflicting records—not just confirm an expected total.
We seek repeatable rules that work for supported situations across accounts. Where an institution has a specific documented convention, we keep that rule within its supported scope. We do not tailor a financial interpretation to make one person’s account look right.
Human review and constructive challenge are part of this work. Automated tools, including AI-assisted development, help us investigate and implement; a plausible explanation from a person or a tool still needs evidence. As our understanding improves, we document changes and test their effects. These practices reduce mistakes; they do not make the software or its sources infallible.
Earn confidence through transparency
WealthProof is an evolving analysis tool. The principles here are commitments that guide our work, not a claim that every institution, financial event or reporting need is already supported.
We do not claim GIPS compliance, independent verification or certification. Our calculations and disclosures should be evaluated on their documented methods, supporting information and stated limitations.
The GIPS performance-reporting standards do not permit presenting annualized returns for periods shorter than one year in their reports. WealthProof offers optional annualized illustrations, including for shorter periods, to help you explore how a period’s change translates to a yearly scale. We distinguish simple annualized change from cash-flow-aware performance and explain the method. Neither means that the pace will continue, predicts your future results, or turns the displayed result into a GIPS performance report.
WealthProof is a financial analysis tool, not a financial advisor. It does not provide personalized investment recommendations. Our role is to help you understand your records and ask better questions, including in conversations with your advisor. That role still requires us to explain our numbers clearly and responsibly.
Our commitment is to make each result as useful as the evidence allows—and to make the limits clear enough for you to decide how to use it.