Payment records worth keeping: a checklist

When a buyer disputes a charge, a processor asks about your business, or a reviewer wants to see how an order was handled, the answer comes from your records. The records worth keeping are the ones that let you show, in order, what was sold, to whom, on what terms, and what happened next: the order, the receipt, the buyer's confirmations, proof of shipment, refunds and the messages in between.

This checklist sets out each type of record, what it should contain and why it matters. How long you keep each one is a separate decision for your business and its advisers, covered near the end.

Why records matter more than memory

Stripe's dispute guidance is built around documents. Its evidence best practices ask merchants to present evidence in the order events happened, group it by type and add a short summary of what each item shows. Stripe also notes that you have one opportunity to submit a dispute response, and you cannot add files afterwards. A response can only be built from what you saved at the time.

The same records help outside disputes. When Stripe reviews an account, its support pages say it may ask for documents such as itemized customer invoices and shipment tracking numbers, and that details like business name and address should match the information on the account. If your records are complete and consistent, answering is a matter of finding files rather than reconstructing events.

Order and payment records

• Order record. Order number, date and time, items with quantities and prices, currency, totals, and the buyer's account and contact details.
• Itemized invoice or receipt. Stripe's guidance says a receipt used as dispute evidence should show the date, currency and amount of the disputed items. Keep the receipt or confirmation email you actually sent, not a copy regenerated later.
• Payment reference. The Stripe payment ID for each order, so the order in your store and the payment in your Stripe dashboard can be matched without guesswork.
• Details collected at checkout. Stripe's dispute evidence includes the customer's name, email, billing address and purchase IP address where available, and its fraud prevention guide recommends collecting details such as name, email, full billing address and shipping address.
• The product page as it was. Stripe's evidence list includes a description of the product and how it was presented at the time of purchase. A dated copy of the page is more useful than today's version.

Buyer eligibility and confirmation records

If you sell only to business and research buyers, the records that show how you applied that policy matter as much as the payment itself.

• Buyer type and credentials. What the buyer told you about their organization, role or institution, and any business or registration details you asked for. See how to verify business and research buyers.
• Ship-to address checks. Whether the address fit the buyer's stated organization, and any follow-up you did.
• Signed confirmations. The exact statement the buyer agreed to, the version of that wording and the time it was signed. A record that only says "accepted" does not tell a reviewer what was accepted. Buyer attestations, explained covers this in more detail.
• Review decisions. If an order was held, who reviewed it, when, what they looked at and what they decided.
• Refusals. Orders you declined and the reason, recorded the same way each time.

Policy and terms records

• Terms of sale in force on the order date. Stripe's dispute guidance says proof that the customer agreed to and understood your terms at checkout is critical for refund-related disputes, and suggests a clean screenshot of how you present your terms during checkout.
• Refund, return and shipping policies in force on the order date. Keep each version, not just the current page.
• How the policies were shown. Stripe's fraud prevention guide warns that an issuer might reject a checkbox that only contains a link as evidence the customer was aware of your policies. Save a dated screenshot of the checkout page each time it changes. Versioning your policies and checkout statements explains how to keep this tidy.

Fulfillment records

• Shipment details. Carrier, service, tracking number and ship date. Stripe's guidance says shipping documentation used as evidence should show the delivery date and the full shipping address.
• Proof of delivery. Delivery confirmation, and a signature where you used one. Stripe notes that card issuers do not follow links, so save screenshots or PDFs of tracking pages rather than relying on a tracking URL.
• Lot and documentation. Which lot went into the parcel, and the documents that shipped with it, such as a certificate of analysis.
• Exceptions. Lost, damaged or returned parcels, and how each was resolved.

Refunds, disputes and communications

• Refunds. Amount, date, reason and who approved it. Stripe's evidence guidance says proof that you compensated the customer before they opened a dispute can help show the dispute is invalid.
• Dispute files. For each dispute: the notice, any claim documents the bank provided, what you submitted and the outcome.
• Customer communication. Emails, chat transcripts and call notes. Stripe recommends keeping a record of all communication with the customer while you handle a dispute. Keep messages attached to the order they relate to.
• Processor correspondence. Requests from your processor, your answers and copies of the documents you sent.

Account and admin records

• Access. Who on your team can change products, prices, policies, rules and refunds, and in which role. See compliance roles for small teams.
• Setting changes. What changed, when and by whom, for anything that affects who can buy or what they agree to.
• Storefront changes. Edits to product pages and policies, with dates.

How long to keep records

There is no single retention period that suits every record. Tax authorities, card network rules, contracts, insurers and lenders can each have their own expectations. The IRS, for example, says the length of time to keep a document depends on the action, expense or event it records, and notes that insurers or creditors may require you to keep records longer than it does.

Decide retention periods with your accountant and a qualified lawyer, write them down, and apply them the same way to every record of the same type. A consistent written policy is easier to explain than a mix of records kept and records deleted. Keeping compliance records: retention and access covers the principles.

Where Claddr fits, and what it does not cover

Claddr stores buyer checks, signed attestations, holds and payments against each order, and chains each entry to the one before it, so a change after the fact breaks the chain. An export gives a PDF summary of the controls in force and a CSV of every entry with its hash. How Claddr's audit record works explains the detail.

It does not replace your shipping, accounting, tax or support records. Those still need a home, an owner and a retention policy of their own.