This timeline is part of the special pricing agreement exceptions hub. The system map shows how the records join; this page shows when, during a pricing project, each one is at risk.
The project timeline, from kickoff to the old CPQ switch-off
Illustrative: a fictional 390-person industrial distributor replaces its quote tool and rebuilds ERP price conditions over twelve months. The milestones are typical of such projects; the dates are invented.
| Month | Project milestone | What happens to special pricing history |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Kickoff and scope | The plan lists open approvals to migrate; expired ones are usually out of scope |
| 3 | New condition design signed off | Old condition types mapped to new ones; approval number field may or may not carry over |
| 5 | Bulk price load | New conditions loaded over old ones; overlapping records adjusted or replaced |
| 6 | Go-live | New quotes and orders run on the new structure |
| 6 to 9 | Hypercare | Pricing analysts who knew the old setup move to other work or leave |
| 9 | Old CPQ license ends | Requests, quote history and rule configuration no longer reachable unless kept |
The window that matters is months 0 to 5. After the price load, the dates stored in the ERP describe the new world, not the one in which past orders were priced.
Why the dates go first
Documented ERP behavior explains it. SAP's documentation on validity periods says a new condition record may partially overlap an existing one, for example a special price valid for one month. A partial overlap adjusts the existing record's validity without a message, and an existing record wholly inside a new one is deleted on save after a system message. In Microsoft Dynamics 365, where trade agreements overlap, the agreement with the lowest price is selected when order lines are created.
SAP
Microsoft Dynamics 365Neither is a fault; both are how pricing engines keep current prices clean. But a bulk reload during a transformation creates exactly those overlaps at scale. The order lines from last year still show the special price and the approval number. What may no longer exist anywhere in the ERP is the start and end date that approval had on the day the order was priced, which is the fact that decides whether a rejected claim was the supplier's error or the distributor's.
How long each record class tends to last
There is no single answer; ask the company rather than assume. The table gives the usual pattern and the reason it differs by class.
| Record class | Where it sits | What usually sets its life | First thing lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original validity dates | ERP price conditions | Overwritten by later loads, not by a schedule | The dates in force on a past order date |
| Pricing requests and quotes | CPQ tool | The CPQ license and whether history is migrated | Expired and lost quotes, never migrated |
| Approval letters | Shared folders, email | Mailbox and folder policies; staff leaving | Letters in personal inboxes |
| Order lines with approval reference | ERP order history | Financial record retention | Usually kept; the reference field may be dropped in a redesign |
| Claims, rejections, resubmissions | Supplier portals, credit memos, email | Supplier portal terms and user access | Portal history tied to departed users |
| CPQ rule and workflow changes | CPQ configuration, change tickets | Tool replacement | Configuration history when the tool is retired |
Financial records often have the longest life because tax rules reach them. The IRS generally ties record retention to the period of limitations, three years in most cases, with longer periods in listed situations. That keeps invoices and credits around; it does nothing to keep the quote, the letter or the old dates that explain them.
The pre-reload inventory: six facts per class
For each class in the table above, the pricing director or project lead fills one row. No records are opened or copied; this is a list for the people who decide.
- Record class, in the company's own words.
- Years covered, with the year coverage changes, for example when the current CPQ went live.
- System and administrator.
- Business owner, the person who decides what happens to the records.
- Real access deadline, from a document: the CPQ license end date, the price load date in the project plan, or a supplier portal's terms. "Soon" is not a date.
- What the project plan does with it: migrate, archive, leave behind or overwrite.
A line reading "Original validity dates; 2017 to now; ERP; ERP administrator; pricing director; price load in month 5 of the plan; overwrite" is the most useful sentence the inventory can produce. It tells the owner precisely what will change, when and on whose authority. The CPQ replacement guide covers the project side of the same moment.
Who approves keeping history the plan leaves out
Keeping something the project plan does not keep is a decision with costs and rules attached, and it belongs to the company.
- Pricing director: confirms which classes explain exceptions and which are noise.
- ERP or CPQ owner: says what is technically possible before the load or the license end.
- CFO or controller: owns the retention policy and the financial records.
- Counsel: reads supplier program terms and privacy limits, because approvals name end customers and keeping them has to have a reason.
- COO, CEO or owner: decides if the classes are worth keeping for a possible licensing discussion.
Do not recommend keeping anything without that authority and a reason to keep it. Finance-led programs often fold this into a wider plan; see the finance transformation roadmap and finance transformation in private equity portfolio companies. Pricing projects in sponsor-backed distributors are covered in pricing value creation in private equity, and the who-can-license answer names the signer for a licensing discussion.
The introduced company needs 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded), documented operating history, rights to license and an authorized contact. Companies in the U.S., Canada and the EU qualify, as do companies in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, South Africa, Latin America, the UAE and Saudi Arabia when at least 90% of the data is in English. Partners sign the Channel Partner Agreement before submitting introductions. Buyer interest, supplier consent and the result of SourceX's rights review stay unknown until SourceX reviews the records with the company.
Next step
Refer a company. Earn up to $100,000. Default reward: 25% of Actual Supplier Payout, capped at $100,000 cumulatively per referred company. Eligibility and payment conditions apply, and a signed Schedule A or addendum can differ. A lead, meeting or signature alone does not trigger payment.
If a distributor's price load is on the project plan and its original approval dates are still intact, register as a partner, check the company against who qualifies, and read the program terms before you introduce the pricing director.