Imagine a GP receives a grant for water-point repair. The budget provision authorises a financial plan; a release order moves funds; the GP account records receipt; an approved estimate and work order authorise expenditure; a measurement or service certificate shows execution; a payment voucher shows the supplier was paid; and water testing with resident use indicates the service actually works. These are seven different facts. A question stating only that funds were allocated cannot establish that a bore or pipeline now supplies safe water.

At a municipality, a similar chain may begin with own-source tax revenue rather than a grant. Tax demand is the amount billed, tax collection is money actually received, and arrears are unpaid amounts. User charges are different from taxes because they relate to a specified service under applicable law. Borrowed money must be repaid. The State Finance Commission may recommend transfers but it does not substitute for the municipality's budget and accounts. This accounting lens helps a police candidate evaluate public claims without confusing an allegation with a proven diversion of funds.

Worked example: A local finance ledger begins with the authorised budget, then the actual receipt, work sanction, payment voucher and measured output. A grant may be restricted to a purpose; a tax may support general services. A road allocation cannot be added to total expenditure twice if it already sits inside a department or service head. In a social audit, reconcile the money trail with the asset on the ground.

Active recall: Identify the first document that proves a work was authorised, and the separate document that proves it was performed. What final observation shows public benefit?