Requirement traceability connects each scoped behavior to a test, demonstration, record, or inspection that another reviewer can reproduce and evaluate against an explicit criterion.
Convert each requirement into observable properties
Copy the requirement exactly and cite its source before paraphrasing it. Identify the actor, starting condition, action, expected result, limits, and any named performance or compatibility constraint. If the source says 'users can export invoices,' the evidence may include a seeded account, the export action, the resulting file, required columns, access control, and behavior when no invoices exist.
Ambiguous terms such as fast, secure, intuitive, scalable, or complete do not become objective because they appear in a ledger. Ask the buyer to supply the agreed criterion or mark the row as unresolved. A technical reviewer can demonstrate latency or access behavior but should not invent a threshold that the contract never defined.
Choose the strongest available evidence
Use deterministic automated checks where the property is exact, then controlled demonstrations, repository inspection, deployment records, and human review for properties that require judgment. Link the test code, fixture, command, raw result, screenshot when visual evidence matters, and the commit under review. A passing builder-provided test is evidence, but an independent clean run shows whether the buyer can reproduce it.
NIST's acceptance guidance calls for traceability from requirements to test cases, documented procedures, error reporting, responsibilities, and clear acceptance criteria. The ledger should therefore preserve missing evidence and test defects rather than translating every non-run into a failure of the delivered behavior. When a requirement depends on a third-party service, record the service version, account tier, and test condition; a passing demonstration may otherwise rely on an external capability the buyer does not control.
Keep dispositions tied to the evidence
A row can pass, fail, remain untested, require clarification, or be excluded from the agreed review. Record severity, owner, repair estimate, and retest condition for each defect. The final packet should let the buyer separate a missing screenshot from a broken core workflow and see which findings affect the decision materially.
Handback Review prepares and checks the traceability ledger through Reality Contact, LLC. The customer confirms scope meaning and decides the contractual or payment consequence of each technical finding.
Where the service stops
Reality Contact, LLC performs technical verification and document preparation, but does not interpret contract rights as legal advice, determine payment entitlement, certify security, conduct penetration testing, contact the delivering party, or make the buyer's acceptance decision. The buyer reviews the evidence with any advisers needed and chooses whether to accept the delivery, require repairs, or withhold acceptance or payment where the contract permits. This is technical verification and document preparation; it does not replace legal, security, procurement, intellectual-property, or contractual review. We do not promise that the software is defect-free, that every requirement is testable, or that any technical finding determines payment or acceptance rights.
Sources: NIST software-acceptance guidance on traceability and test documentation; CISA software supply-chain guidance for verification methods.