diff --git a/includes/utilities.php b/includes/utilities.php
index 5ea4211..1826f39 100644
--- a/includes/utilities.php
+++ b/includes/utilities.php
@@ -14,6 +14,11 @@
  * @link     https://github.com/ksolomon/Torn-Vault-Tracker
  */
 
+// Test hook for fetchLiveVaultBalance(). When set, this closure is called
+// instead of executeApiCall. Set $GLOBALS['liveBalanceTestHook'] to a
+// closure($url, $apiKey): array in test code. Production code leaves it null.
+$GLOBALS['liveBalanceTestHook'] = $GLOBALS['liveBalanceTestHook'] ?? null;
+
 /**
  * Checks if the database is new and empty.
  *
@@ -332,3 +337,54 @@ function backfillRunningBalances($pdo, $user) {
     $updateStmt->bindValue(':user', $user);
     $updateStmt->execute();
 }
+
+/**
+ * Fetch the live vault balance for a user from the v2 /money endpoint.
+ *
+ * Returns the `money.vault` value as an int, or null if the API call
+ * fails, returns invalid JSON, or doesn't include `money.vault`. The
+ * result is cached for the duration of the PHP request so multiple
+ * callers (e.g., `vaultLoop` for one user, then the all-users sum)
+ * don't re-fetch.
+ *
+ * @param string $user The user whose vault balance to fetch.
+ *
+ * @return int|null The vault amount in pennies, or null on failure.
+ */
+function fetchLiveVaultBalance($user) {
+    static $cache = null;
+
+    if ($cache === null) {
+        $cache = new WeakMap();
+    }
+
+    $hook = $GLOBALS['liveBalanceTestHook'] ?? null;
+    $cacheKey = $hook ?? true;
+
+    if (isset($cache[$cacheKey]) && array_key_exists($user, $cache[$cacheKey])) {
+        return $cache[$cacheKey][$user];
+    }
+
+    if (!array_key_exists($user, USER_KEYS)) {
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    $url = 'https://api.torn.com/v2/user?selections=money';
+    try {
+        $responseData = $hook !== null
+            ? $hook($url, USER_KEYS[$user])
+            : executeApiCall($url, USER_KEYS[$user]);
+
+        if (!isset($responseData['money']['vault'])) {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        if (!isset($cache[$cacheKey])) {
+            $cache[$cacheKey] = [];
+        }
+        $cache[$cacheKey][$user] = (int)$responseData['money']['vault'];
+        return $cache[$cacheKey][$user];
+    } catch (Exception $e) {
+        return null;
+    }
+}