diff --git a/docs/schemas/agent-cost-account-balance-v1.schema.json b/docs/schemas/agent-cost-account-balance-v1.schema.json
index 6c3b386c6..fec5f1484 100644
--- a/docs/schemas/agent-cost-account-balance-v1.schema.json
+++ b/docs/schemas/agent-cost-account-balance-v1.schema.json
@@ -4,11 +4,25 @@
   "title": "Agent Cost Account Balance Snapshot v1",
   "type": "object",
   "additionalProperties": false,
-  "required": ["schema", "generatedAt", "snapshotAt", "plan", "credits", "provenance"],
+  "required": [
+    "schema",
+    "generatedAt",
+    "effectiveAt",
+    "plan",
+    "balances",
+    "sourceSchema",
+    "sourceKind",
+    "sourcePathEvidence",
+    "confidence",
+    "operatorNote"
+  ],
   "properties": {
     "schema": { "const": "priority/agent-cost-account-balance@v1" },
     "generatedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time" },
+    "effectiveAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time" },
+    "capturedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time" },
     "snapshotAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time" },
+    "renewalCycleBoundaryAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time" },
     "plan": {
       "type": "object",
       "additionalProperties": false,
@@ -19,31 +33,23 @@
         "daysRemaining": { "type": "integer", "minimum": 0 }
       }
     },
-    "credits": {
+    "balances": {
       "type": "object",
       "additionalProperties": false,
-      "required": ["total", "used", "remaining"],
+      "required": ["totalCredits", "usedCredits", "remainingCredits"],
       "properties": {
-        "total": { "type": "integer", "minimum": 0 },
-        "used": { "type": "integer", "minimum": 0 },
-        "remaining": { "type": "integer", "minimum": 0 }
+        "totalCredits": { "type": "integer", "minimum": 0 },
+        "usedCredits": { "type": "integer", "minimum": 0 },
+        "remainingCredits": { "type": "integer", "minimum": 0 }
       }
     },
-    "provenance": {
-      "type": "object",
-      "additionalProperties": false,
-      "required": ["sourceSchema", "sourceKind", "sourcePath", "observedAt", "confidence", "operatorNote"],
-      "properties": {
-        "sourceSchema": { "type": ["string", "null"], "minLength": 1 },
-        "sourceKind": {
-          "type": "string",
-          "enum": ["operator-account-state", "billing-export", "manual-baseline"]
-        },
-        "sourcePath": { "type": "string", "minLength": 1 },
-        "observedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time" },
-        "confidence": { "type": "string", "enum": ["low", "medium", "high"] },
-        "operatorNote": { "type": "string", "minLength": 1 }
-      }
-    }
+    "sourceSchema": { "type": "string", "minLength": 1 },
+    "sourceKind": {
+      "type": "string",
+      "enum": ["operator-account-state", "billing-export", "manual-baseline"]
+    },
+    "sourcePathEvidence": { "type": "string", "minLength": 1 },
+    "confidence": { "type": "string", "enum": ["low", "medium", "high"] },
+    "operatorNote": { "type": "string", "minLength": 1 }
   }
 }
diff --git a/tools/priority/__fixtures__/agent-cost-rollup/private-account-balance-sample.json b/tools/priority/__fixtures__/agent-cost-rollup/private-account-balance-sample.json
index 1cb41f3a4..2dee4d189 100644
--- a/tools/priority/__fixtures__/agent-cost-rollup/private-account-balance-sample.json
+++ b/tools/priority/__fixtures__/agent-cost-rollup/private-account-balance-sample.json
@@ -1,20 +1,21 @@
 {
   "schema": "priority/agent-cost-private-account-balance@v1",
   "snapshotAt": "2026-03-21T12:00:00.000Z",
+  "capturedAt": "2026-03-21T12:00:00.000Z",
+  "effectiveAt": "2026-03-21T12:00:00.000Z",
+  "renewalCycleBoundaryAt": "2026-04-15T00:00:00.000Z",
   "plan": {
     "name": "business",
     "renewsAt": "2026-04-15"
   },
-  "credits": {
-    "total": 27500,
-    "used": 15800,
-    "remaining": 11700
+  "balances": {
+    "totalCredits": 27500,
+    "usedCredits": 15800,
+    "remainingCredits": 11700
   },
-  "provenance": {
-    "sourceKind": "operator-account-state",
-    "sourcePath": "C:/Users/operator/Downloads/account-balance-20260321.json",
-    "observedAt": "2026-03-21T12:00:00.000Z",
-    "confidence": "high",
-    "operatorNote": "Sanitized operator-provided account balance snapshot."
-  }
+  "sourceSchema": "priority/agent-cost-private-account-balance@v1",
+  "sourceKind": "operator-account-state",
+  "sourcePathEvidence": "tools/priority/__fixtures__/agent-cost-rollup/private-account-balance-sample.json",
+  "confidence": "high",
+  "operatorNote": "Sanitized operator-provided account balance snapshot."
 }
diff --git a/tools/priority/__tests__/agent-cost-account-balance-normalize.test.mjs b/tools/priority/__tests__/agent-cost-account-balance-normalize.test.mjs
index a930ddbb1..c28db022c 100644
--- a/tools/priority/__tests__/agent-cost-account-balance-normalize.test.mjs
+++ b/tools/priority/__tests__/agent-cost-account-balance-normalize.test.mjs
@@ -15,6 +15,15 @@ import {
 
 const repoRoot = path.resolve(process.cwd());
 const fixtureRoot = path.join(repoRoot, 'tools', 'priority', '__fixtures__', 'agent-cost-rollup');
+const canonicalOutputPath = path.join(
+  repoRoot,
+  'tests',
+  'results',
+  '_agent',
+  'cost',
+  'account-balances',
+  'account-balance-2026-03-21.json'
+);
 
 function readJson(filePath) {
   return JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(filePath, 'utf8'));
@@ -39,17 +48,22 @@ test('buildNormalizedAccountBalanceReceiptFromSnapshot normalizes a private acco
   const report = buildNormalizedAccountBalanceReceiptFromSnapshot(snapshot);
 
   assert.equal(report.schema, 'priority/agent-cost-account-balance@v1');
-  assert.equal(report.snapshotAt, '2026-03-21T12:00:00.000Z');
+  assert.equal(report.effectiveAt, '2026-03-21T12:00:00.000Z');
+  assert.equal(report.capturedAt, '2026-03-21T12:00:00.000Z');
+  assert.equal(report.renewalCycleBoundaryAt, '2026-04-15T00:00:00.000Z');
   assert.equal(report.plan.name, 'business');
   assert.equal(report.plan.renewsAt, '2026-04-15');
   assert.equal(report.plan.daysRemaining, 25);
-  assert.equal(report.credits.total, 27500);
-  assert.equal(report.credits.used, 15800);
-  assert.equal(report.credits.remaining, 11700);
-  assert.equal(report.provenance.sourceSchema, 'priority/agent-cost-private-account-balance@v1');
-  assert.equal(report.provenance.sourceKind, 'operator-account-state');
-  assert.equal(report.provenance.observedAt, '2026-03-21T12:00:00.000Z');
-  assert.equal(report.provenance.confidence, 'high');
+  assert.deepEqual(report.balances, {
+    totalCredits: 27500,
+    usedCredits: 15800,
+    remainingCredits: 11700
+  });
+  assert.equal(report.sourceSchema, 'priority/agent-cost-private-account-balance@v1');
+  assert.equal(report.sourceKind, 'operator-account-state');
+  assert.equal(report.sourcePathEvidence, 'tools/priority/__fixtures__/agent-cost-rollup/private-account-balance-sample.json');
+  assert.equal(report.confidence, 'high');
+  assert.equal(report.operatorNote, 'Sanitized operator-provided account balance snapshot.');
 });
 
 test('runAgentCostAccountBalanceNormalize writes a normalized account-balance receipt to the requested path', () => {
@@ -60,10 +74,31 @@ test('runAgentCostAccountBalanceNormalize writes a normalized account-balance re
     outputPath
   });
 
-  assert.equal(result.report.credits.remaining, 11700);
+  assert.deepEqual(result.report.balances, {
+    totalCredits: 27500,
+    usedCredits: 15800,
+    remainingCredits: 11700
+  });
   assert.equal(fs.existsSync(outputPath), true);
 });
 
+test('runAgentCostAccountBalanceNormalize auto-discovers the canonical account-balance output path when none is provided', () => {
+  if (fs.existsSync(canonicalOutputPath)) {
+    fs.rmSync(canonicalOutputPath, { force: true });
+  }
+
+  try {
+    const result = runAgentCostAccountBalanceNormalize({
+      snapshotPath: path.join(fixtureRoot, 'private-account-balance-sample.json')
+    });
+
+    assert.equal(result.outputPath, canonicalOutputPath);
+    assert.equal(fs.existsSync(canonicalOutputPath), true);
+  } finally {
+    fs.rmSync(canonicalOutputPath, { force: true });
+  }
+});
+
 test('agent-cost-account-balance-normalize CLI writes a receipt directly', () => {
   const tmpDir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'agent-cost-account-balance-normalize-cli-'));
   const outputPath = path.join(tmpDir, 'account-balance.json');
diff --git a/tools/priority/agent-cost-account-balance-normalize.mjs b/tools/priority/agent-cost-account-balance-normalize.mjs
index 6fe649451..513a5bc42 100644
--- a/tools/priority/agent-cost-account-balance-normalize.mjs
+++ b/tools/priority/agent-cost-account-balance-normalize.mjs
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
 
 export const INPUT_SCHEMA = 'priority/agent-cost-private-account-balance@v1';
 export const REPORT_SCHEMA = 'priority/agent-cost-account-balance@v1';
-export const DEFAULT_OUTPUT_PATH = path.join('tests', 'results', '_agent', 'cost', 'agent-cost-account-balance.json');
+export const DEFAULT_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY = path.join('tests', 'results', '_agent', 'cost', 'account-balances');
 
 const CONFIDENCE_LEVELS = new Set(['low', 'medium', 'high']);
 
@@ -38,6 +38,14 @@ function normalizeDate(value) {
   return Number.isFinite(parsed) ? new Date(parsed).toISOString().slice(0, 10) : '';
 }
 
+function toUtcMidnightDateTime(value) {
+  const text = normalizeDate(value);
+  if (!text) {
+    return '';
+  }
+  return `${text}T00:00:00.000Z`;
+}
+
 function normalizeConfidence(value) {
   const text = normalizeText(value).toLowerCase();
   return CONFIDENCE_LEVELS.has(text) ? text : '';
@@ -52,9 +60,9 @@ function toNonNegativeInteger(value) {
 }
 
 function deriveBalanceTotals(payload) {
-  let total = toNonNegativeInteger(payload?.credits?.total ?? payload?.totalCredits);
-  let used = toNonNegativeInteger(payload?.credits?.used ?? payload?.usedCredits);
-  let remaining = toNonNegativeInteger(payload?.credits?.remaining ?? payload?.remainingCredits);
+  let total = toNonNegativeInteger(payload?.balances?.totalCredits ?? payload?.credits?.total ?? payload?.totalCredits);
+  let used = toNonNegativeInteger(payload?.balances?.usedCredits ?? payload?.credits?.used ?? payload?.usedCredits);
+  let remaining = toNonNegativeInteger(payload?.balances?.remainingCredits ?? payload?.credits?.remaining ?? payload?.remainingCredits);
 
   if (total == null && used != null && remaining != null) {
     total = used + remaining;
@@ -116,8 +124,13 @@ function validateInputPayload(payload) {
     throw new Error('Account balance payload must include plan.renewsAt.');
   }
 
-  if (!normalizeText(payload.sourcePath) && !normalizeText(payload?.provenance?.sourcePath)) {
-    throw new Error('Account balance payload must include sourcePath.');
+  if (
+    !normalizeText(payload.sourcePathEvidence) &&
+    !normalizeText(payload.sourcePath) &&
+    !normalizeText(payload?.provenance?.sourcePathEvidence) &&
+    !normalizeText(payload?.provenance?.sourcePath)
+  ) {
+    throw new Error('Account balance payload must include sourcePathEvidence.');
   }
 }
 
@@ -172,11 +185,19 @@ export function buildNormalizedAccountBalanceReceiptFromSnapshot(snapshotPayload
     throw new Error('Account balance payload snapshotAt must be a valid date-time.');
   }
 
+  const capturedAt = normalizeDateTime(snapshotPayload.capturedAt) || snapshotAt;
+  const effectiveAt = normalizeDateTime(snapshotPayload.effectiveAt) || snapshotAt;
+
   const renewsAt = normalizeDate(snapshotPayload?.plan?.renewsAt ?? snapshotPayload?.renewsAt);
   if (!renewsAt) {
     throw new Error('Account balance payload plan.renewsAt must be a valid date.');
   }
 
+  const renewalCycleBoundaryAt = toUtcMidnightDateTime(renewsAt);
+  if (!renewalCycleBoundaryAt) {
+    throw new Error('Account balance payload plan.renewsAt must resolve to a cycle boundary.');
+  }
+
   const credits = deriveBalanceTotals(snapshotPayload);
   const cycleDaysRemaining = deriveCycleDaysRemaining(snapshotPayload, snapshotAt, renewsAt);
   if (cycleDaysRemaining == null) {
@@ -184,38 +205,68 @@ export function buildNormalizedAccountBalanceReceiptFromSnapshot(snapshotPayload
   }
 
   const confidence = normalizeConfidence(snapshotPayload?.provenance?.confidence ?? snapshotPayload.confidence) || 'high';
-  const sourcePath = normalizeText(snapshotPayload.sourcePath) || normalizeText(snapshotPayload?.provenance?.sourcePath);
+  const sourceSchema = normalizeText(snapshotPayload?.sourceSchema ?? snapshotPayload?.provenance?.sourceSchema) || INPUT_SCHEMA;
+  const sourceKind = normalizeText(snapshotPayload?.sourceKind ?? snapshotPayload?.provenance?.sourceKind) || 'operator-account-state';
+  const sourcePathEvidence =
+    normalizeText(snapshotPayload.sourcePathEvidence) ||
+    normalizeText(snapshotPayload.sourcePath) ||
+    normalizeText(snapshotPayload?.provenance?.sourcePathEvidence) ||
+    normalizeText(snapshotPayload?.provenance?.sourcePath);
+  const operatorNote =
+    normalizeText(snapshotPayload.operatorNote) ||
+    normalizeText(snapshotPayload?.provenance?.operatorNote) ||
+    'Normalized from a local private account balance snapshot.';
   const generatedAt = normalizeDateTime(options.generatedAt) || new Date().toISOString();
 
   return {
     schema: REPORT_SCHEMA,
     generatedAt,
+    effectiveAt,
     snapshotAt,
+    capturedAt,
+    renewalCycleBoundaryAt,
     plan: {
       name: normalizeText(snapshotPayload?.plan?.name) || 'business',
       renewsAt,
       daysRemaining: cycleDaysRemaining
     },
-    credits,
-    provenance: {
-      sourceSchema: normalizeText(snapshotPayload.schema) || INPUT_SCHEMA,
-      sourceKind: normalizeText(snapshotPayload?.provenance?.sourceKind) || 'operator-account-state',
-      sourcePath,
-      observedAt: normalizeDateTime(snapshotPayload?.provenance?.observedAt) || snapshotAt,
-      confidence,
-      operatorNote:
-        normalizeText(snapshotPayload?.provenance?.operatorNote) ||
-        'Normalized from a local private account balance snapshot.'
-    }
+    balances: {
+      totalCredits: credits.total,
+      usedCredits: credits.used,
+      remainingCredits: credits.remaining
+    },
+    sourceSchema,
+    sourceKind,
+    sourcePathEvidence,
+    confidence,
+    operatorNote
   };
 }
 
+function deriveDefaultOutputPath(report) {
+  const effectiveDate = normalizeDate(report?.effectiveAt) || normalizeDate(report?.capturedAt) || normalizeDate(report?.snapshotAt);
+  if (!effectiveDate) {
+    throw new Error('Normalized account balance receipts must include an effectiveAt, capturedAt, or snapshotAt date.');
+  }
+  return path.join(DEFAULT_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY, `account-balance-${effectiveDate}.json`);
+}
+
 export function runAgentCostAccountBalanceNormalize(options) {
   const snapshot = readSnapshot(options.snapshotPath);
-  const report = buildNormalizedAccountBalanceReceiptFromSnapshot(snapshot.payload, {
+  const payload = {
+    ...snapshot.payload,
+    sourcePathEvidence:
+      normalizeText(snapshot.payload?.sourcePathEvidence) ||
+      normalizeText(snapshot.payload?.sourcePath) ||
+      normalizeText(snapshot.payload?.provenance?.sourcePathEvidence) ||
+      normalizeText(snapshot.payload?.provenance?.sourcePath) ||
+      snapshot.resolved
+  };
+  const report = buildNormalizedAccountBalanceReceiptFromSnapshot(payload, {
     generatedAt: options.generatedAt
   });
-  const outputPath = path.resolve(options.outputPath || DEFAULT_OUTPUT_PATH);
+  const defaultOutputPath = deriveDefaultOutputPath(report);
+  const outputPath = path.resolve(options.outputPath || defaultOutputPath);
   fs.mkdirSync(path.dirname(outputPath), { recursive: true });
   fs.writeFileSync(outputPath, `${JSON.stringify(report, null, 2)}\n`, 'utf8');
   return {
@@ -230,7 +281,9 @@ function printUsage() {
   console.log('');
   console.log('Options:');
   console.log(`  --snapshot <path>   Local private account balance snapshot JSON (${INPUT_SCHEMA}) (required).`);
-  console.log('  --output <path>     Optional account-balance receipt output override.');
+  console.log(
+    '  --output <path>     Optional account-balance receipt output override (defaults to tests/results/_agent/cost/account-balances/account-balance-<YYYY-MM-DD>.json).'
+  );
   console.log('  -h, --help          Show help and exit.');
 }