Processes
What is Data Provenance?
Data provenance is the documented origin and transformation history of a data point — a record of where the data came from, how it was processed, and what changes were made along the way.
Explanation
In accounting, provenance answers the auditor's fundamental question: where did this number come from? Every figure in a financial statement should be traceable back to a source document — an invoice, a bank statement, a contract. Manual workflows create provenance gaps: data is keyed in, the source document is filed (or lost), and the link between the two exists only in someone's memory. Automated document processing with provenance tracking maintains the link between the extracted data and the source document automatically, creating a permanent, queryable chain from financial statement to source PDF.
How Rima relates
Rima creates audit-proof provenance on every extraction — every data point links directly back to the source document and the extraction step that produced it.
Learn about Rima's accuracy and audit trailRelated Terms
Audit Trail
A chronological record that traces every action taken on a document or transaction back to its source.
Audit-Ready
A state in which financial records are complete, traceable, and organized for external or internal audit.
Internal Controls
Policies and procedures designed to prevent errors, fraud, and ensure accurate financial reporting.
See it in action
Rima automates the manual document workflows accounting teams spend hours on every week.