Private equity and portfolios
First 100 days after an add-on acquisition: an integration checklist
By SourceX Editorial · Updated
Short answer
An add-on acquisition integration checklist for the first 100 days should run five tracks side by side: cash and reporting, people, customers, systems and records. Records is the track most easily skipped. Take control of every login in weeks one and two, file consents by week eight, and export each legacy system before any subscription is cancelled.
Key takeaways
- Run records as its own integration track with a named owner, not as a subtask of the software switch.
- Move admin access for every system the seller ran, including phones, email and field service software, to platform-controlled accounts in the first two weeks.
- File the seller's notice versions, opt-out lists, texting consent and recording disclosures before marketing to acquired customers.
- Give the records owner authority to stop any legacy cancellation until that system's export is stored and signed off.
- An entity map showing which company owns each archive, and under which agreement it arrived, answers later questions from lenders, auditors and buyers.
- Combined history across add-ons can later support analytics or licensing, but only if each brand's rights are documented at intake.
What should the first 100 days of an add-on integration cover?#
The first 100 days of an add-on integration should cover five tracks, each with one owner and a clear finish line: cash and reporting, people, customers, systems and records. Platforms that run integration from a single project list tend to let the records work slide, because nothing breaks on the day it is skipped.
Records means more than the software switch. It covers who controls each account the seller used, what history those accounts hold, which entity owns that history now, and which promises to customers and staff came with it. The losses show up months later, when a warranty claim, a lender question or a buyer's diligence request needs history that no longer exists.
| Track | Usual owner | What done looks like at day 100 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and reporting | Platform CFO or controller | Bank accounts, approvals and the monthly close run in the platform's format |
| People | Brand president and HR lead | Payroll, benefits and technician pay plans moved, key staff retained |
| Customers | Brand president | Customers told what changes, memberships honored, phone numbers kept |
| Systems | Platform COO or IT lead | Admin access held by the platform, cutover plan approved |
| Records | A named records owner | Systems inventoried, legacy history exported and reconciled, entity map filed |
The records track week by week#
The records track runs week by week from close to day 100, and each block ends with something the records owner can check. Treat the dates as a default cadence: a small add-on on one field service platform may move faster, while a shop with a desktop server and years of loose photo folders will need the full window.
The blocks overlap with the other tracks on purpose. Access control has to happen before the systems track changes anything, and the consent review has to finish before the customers track sends the first marketing email under the new brand.
| Weeks | Records task | Done when |
|---|---|---|
| Before close | Account list, records definition and transition help written into the deal documents | Every system holding records is named with its account holder |
| Weeks 1-2 | Move admin access and pause automatic deletion | The platform holds admin roles, and recording, mailbox and file deletion is paused where the vendor allows |
| Weeks 3-4 | Build the subscription list and interview the office manager | Each system has a renewal date, an export route and notes on custom fields |
| Weeks 5-6 | Inventory record families and their rights questions | Each family shows its system, years retrievable and the agreement it arrived under |
| Weeks 7-8 | Review notices and consents | Notice versions, opt-out lists, texting consent and recording disclosures are filed |
| Weeks 9-11 | Export and reconcile each legacy system | Counts match the source by year and sample jobs are signed off |
| Weeks 12-14 | Cut over, archive, set retention and hand off | Archives sit under the owning entity, old access is removed and the file changes hands at day 100 |
Before close: settle records questions in the purchase agreement#
Records questions are cheapest to settle before close, while the seller still has every reason to cooperate. The purchase agreement and any transition services agreement should say which books and records transfer, which systems the seller used, and how long the seller will help with access and exports.
Founders of trades businesses often hold software subscriptions, domains and phone numbers in their own names or on a personal card. Ask for a full account list during diligence and make the transfer of each account a closing deliverable, not a favor requested later.
- A schedule of every system holding customer, job, financial or employee records, with the account holder named.
- A definition of books and records that includes electronic history, attachments, photos and call recordings.
- Seller cooperation with exports, plus read-only access to legacy systems for a set transition period.
- A list of records the seller keeps, such as tax files, and how the buyer can get copies when needed.
- Representations about customer contracts, privacy notices and marketing consents tied to the customer list, with a copy of each notice version the seller used.
Weeks 1 to 4: take control and stop silent losses#
The first four weeks are about control: the platform should hold admin access to every system the add-on uses before anyone changes how work gets done. Leave the operating systems running as they are. Changing dispatch, pricing and software in the same weeks as a change of owner is a common reason good technicians and office staff leave.
Silent losses are the second priority. Some phone systems delete older call recordings automatically, some field service plans limit how far back exports reach, and some mailboxes belong to staff who are about to leave. Check the retention settings in each system and pause deletion where the vendor allows it.
- Move admin roles for the field service platform, accounting, phones, email, website and review profiles to platform-controlled accounts.
- Put shared passwords into a platform password manager and move multi-factor prompts off personal phones.
- Build the subscription list from card statements and accounts payable, not from memory.
- Turn off automatic deletion in call recording, email and file storage settings where possible.
- Interview the office manager about custom fields, job types and workarounds while the knowledge is fresh.
Weeks 5 to 8: inventory the records and file the consents#
Weeks five to eight turn the account list into a records inventory and a consent file. The inventory lists each record family, the system that holds it, how many years are still retrievable and the rights question it raises, and it decides what must be exported before cutover and what can stay behind.
The consent file is the piece platforms most often skip. Before the platform loads the add-on's customers into its own email and texting tools, collect every version of the seller's privacy notice, its opt-out and do-not-contact lists, texting opt-in records and the call recording disclosure used in the phone greeting. Load the opt-outs first, so a customer who said no to the old brand does not hear from the new one.
| Record family | Where it usually lives | Export check | Rights question |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customers and service locations | Field service platform or CRM | IDs, addresses, equipment and contact history | What the privacy notice said at collection |
| Jobs and technician notes | Field service platform | Notes, photos and attachments, not only summaries | Commercial contracts with confidentiality terms |
| Estimates and invoices | Field service platform and accounting system | Line items and links back to jobs | Financing partner and warranty program terms |
| Calls and recordings | Phone or call tracking system | Recordings, transcripts and call logs | How callers were told about recording |
| Memberships and agreements | Field service platform | Terms, visit history and renewal dates | Agreement wording on transfer and renewal |
| Email and shared drives | Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace | Mailboxes of departing staff and owners | Employee notices and personal content |
Weeks 9 to 14: export, cut over and archive#
Weeks nine to fourteen are when cutover happens, and the records owner should be able to stop any cancellation until that system's export is stored and signed off. Signed off means record counts match the source system year by year, original IDs survive so a job still ties to its estimate, invoice, photos and callback, and someone who knows the data has opened sample jobs.
Archives belong in platform-controlled storage, organized by brand and legal entity, with access limited to people who need it. Write down where each archive came from, which purchase agreement transferred it and which restrictions apply. That entity map is the document lenders, auditors and future buyers will ask for.
- Confirm export sign-off for each system before its cancellation date.
- Store each archive with a short data dictionary explaining fields, codes and custom job types.
- Set a retention schedule with the controller and counsel instead of keeping everything forever by default.
- Remove the founder's and former staff members' access once read-only needs end, and log the change.
- Hand the records file to a steady-state owner at the day-100 review.
Illustrative: a plumbing add-on joins an HVAC platform#
Illustrative: a fictional HVAC platform buys a family-owned plumbing company. The plumber ran Housecall Pro for jobs, QuickBooks for accounting, a hosted phone system with call recording, and a shared drive of job photos organized by street name. The founder's spouse held the admin login for every system on a personal email address.
In the first two weeks, the platform moved admin access and paused recording deletion. In week six, the records owner found that the photo drive was the only place where before-and-after images of repiping jobs lived, because technicians had stopped uploading them to the job record long ago. The export team linked photos back to jobs by address and date before the drive was retired.
The week-seven consent review found that the phone greeting had announced call recording only since a phone system change a few years earlier. The older recordings were archived separately and flagged for counsel rather than mixed into the main archive.
At the day-100 review, the plumber's history sat in the platform archive with an entity map and a data dictionary. The brand moved onto the platform's field service software with open work and active memberships only, and nothing the founder had built was lost when the old subscriptions ended.
Why the records track matters after day 100#
The records track matters after day 100 because each add-on brings history the platform cannot recreate. Several brands' job records, kept with their links and with ownership documented, support pricing, warranty and training analysis that no single shop could produce.
The same combined history can become a licensing candidate. Developers of AI systems for field work look for records that follow a job from the first call to the final invoice and any callback, across many technicians, equipment types and regions. Whether a platform can license them depends on rights inherited from each acquired company, which is why the entity map and the consent file matter.
How SourceX fits after integration#
SourceX picks up where integration leaves off: once a platform has preserved an add-on's records, it can assess and license them through the SourceX five-step transaction of Supply, Rights, Preparation, Approval and Delivery. The opening fit check asks for descriptions only, such as system names, years of history and record families, so no files leave the platform at that stage.
Each brand's records are reviewed under the entity that owns them. The SourceX Evidence Packet then documents provenance, including the acquisition that brought the records to the platform, along with licensing rights, permitted use, the privacy record and release authorization. The supplier entity approves every step.
Frequently asked questions
Who should own the records track during integration?
A named person at the platform, often the integration lead or the controller, with authority to block a subscription cancellation. The brand's office manager supports them because that person knows the custom fields and workarounds. Without one owner, exports become everyone's task and nobody's deadline.
What if the seller cancelled a system before close?
Contact the vendor quickly. Vendors keep closed accounts only as long as their own retention terms allow, and some can restore access or produce an export for a fee. Also check the seller's backups, emailed reports and accounting records, which sometimes hold partial job history.
Should the founder keep access to the old systems?
Read-only access for a defined transition period can help, because founders answer questions about old jobs faster than anyone. Grant it through platform-controlled accounts, not shared logins, and remove it at the end of the period with a logged change.
How long should legacy archives be kept?
Retention depends on tax rules, warranty terms, customer contracts and any legal holds, so there is no single answer. Agree a written schedule with the controller and counsel, then apply it to every brand the same way rather than deciding archive by archive.
Does the records track slow down integration?
Not much, if it starts in week one. Inventory and exports run alongside the other tracks, and the only hard stop is the gate before a legacy subscription is cancelled. The slow work, such as relinking photos or notes to jobs, is work that becomes impossible once the account closes.
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