With the chain, not the balance. Bills of sale for each machine, the assignment of the timber contracts, corporate resolutions authorising the wind-up, tax returns reporting the gain, payout statements from equipment lenders, and bank records showing every account the money passed through.
Reconstruct the wind-up transaction by transaction
Source of funds and path of funds are separate requirements and a wind-up tests both. Source means the money was lawfully earned: the business existed, operated, filed returns and owned the assets it sold. Path means the adjudicator can follow it from those sales into the enterprise without a gap.
For a forestry contractor that usually means a schedule listing each yarder, loader and truck with its buyer, price and date, matched to deposits; the contract assignment with its consideration; the equipment lenders' payout letters, because gross sale prices rarely equal net proceeds; corporate and personal tax filings covering the year; and statements for every account, including any holding account used briefly before the transfer. Where a machine was sold for cash or to a relative, expect the question and prepare the answer in advance. Amounts belonging to a former partner or to the corporation rather than to him personally must be identified and excluded.
Hypothetical example: a Hope crane-rental owner sells equipment and transfers the proceeds through a corporate account before making an EB-5 contribution. The first review creates a transaction map from each sale contract to each bank deposit, debt payout, dividend or salary distribution, and final wire. Equipment titles and sale agreements establish the source; statements and transfer confirmations establish the path.
The decision is whether an unclear cash transaction can be documented adequately or should be excluded from the investment amount. Trying to explain a gap after filing is usually harder than investing only traceable funds.