This timeline is part of the warranty eligibility disputes guide. It follows a cleanup from plan to completion and shows, stage by stage, which part of a dispute's history is at risk.
The cleanup, stage by stage
Asset register cleanups follow a recognizable order. Each stage is sensible on its own terms and each can strand a dispute.
| Stage | What the project does | Dispute history at risk |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Plan and scope | Defines which asset classes and years are in scope; sets dates | Nothing yet; this is when to inventory |
| 2. Duplicate merge | Combines assets entered twice, keeps one record | Claims attached to the losing duplicate may lose their asset link |
| 3. Stale serial retirement | Marks serials not seen for years as retired or deletes them | Old serials replaced under warranty, the anchor of most disputes |
| 4. Orphan component purge | Removes components with no current parent | Components swapped out, together with their history under the parent |
| 5. Warranty terms refresh | Loads the current term table, replaces old versions | The terms that were in force when each disputed claim was decided |
| 6. Close and archive | Old register is archived or switched off | Anything not carried into the new register or a readable archive |
Stages 3 and 4 do the most damage to dispute history, because a component swapped under warranty looks exactly like stale data: an old serial nobody has seen for years, attached to nothing current. Where the asset platform used a proper replace function, such as the one Microsoft documents for swapping a worn-out child asset for a new one, the link may survive as history. Where serials were edited in place, the cleanup removes the last trace.
What disappears first, and why
Three things tend to go before anyone notices:
- Old-to-new serial links. They exist only if the swap was recorded as a replacement. Retirement rules that key on "last seen" dates catch them early.
- Past term versions. Many warranty systems store the current terms on an asset. Salesforce's asset warranty fields, for example, carry start and end dates per coverage type, exclusions, exchange type and transferability. If a refresh overwrites those values, nobody can later check whether an approval followed the policy of its year.
- Approver context. If approvals were given by email and the cleanup also retires a shared mailbox or a legacy notes field, the reason disappears even though the claim status remains.
SalesforceClaims, payments and supplier recoveries usually survive longest, because finance relies on them. That is the trap: the money trail outlives the explanation.
How long each record class tends to be kept
There is no single retention period for warranty records, and a partner should not suggest one. Several forces pull in different directions:
| Record class | What usually sets its retention | Inventory question |
|---|---|---|
| Install records and component trees | Asset life plus the company's own policy | Are disposed assets kept as history, or deleted? |
| Serial change history | Whatever the asset platform keeps by default | Does the cleanup retire old serials or keep them readable? |
| Warranty term versions | Often only the current version is stored | Are past versions archived anywhere? |
| Claims and rejection reasons | Finance and tax practice; warranty reserve reviews | How many years are in the current system? |
| Appeals and approvals | Wherever they were recorded, often email | Fields in the system, or mailbox threads? |
| Supplier recoveries | Accounts payable retention | Do recoveries still link to the customer claim? |
Tax rules are one input, not the answer. The IRS's general guidance is to keep records until the period of limitations runs out, usually three years, and to keep property records until the limitations period ends for the year the property is disposed of. It also tells businesses to check whether insurers, creditors or other obligations require longer retention. Warranty disputes often depend on records older than any of these minimums, which is why the company's own schedule, not a tax default, decides.
The inventory to complete before stage 2
Record answers, not data. The data asset register template is a practical place to log them.
- Record classes present, from the table above, with yes or no per class
- First year held, per class and per system
- Cleanup stage that touches each class, and the documented date
- Whether retired serials and orphaned components move to a readable archive
- Whether past warranty term versions are kept anywhere
- Owner of each class, by title
- The person who can approve keeping a class the plan leaves out
Record a deadline only when it is written down, such as a project plan date or a cutover in a migration schedule. The fixed asset register cleanup guide covers the finance side of the same project, and accounting cleanup after an acquisition covers the common case where two registers are merged.
Who approves keeping history the plan would drop
The cleanup lead runs the project but rarely decides retention policy. Keeping a record class beyond the plan usually needs the records owner (service operations or aftermarket) and an executive, often the CFO or COO, with counsel where customer or supplier terms apply. Do not recommend keeping records the company has no authority to keep, and never suggest exporting anything for a licensing conversation.
For a licensing discussion, the person to introduce is the CEO, who can authorize it and sign. The who-can-say-yes tree walks through that choice, and the system map shows which keys join the records the cleanup touches.
The company needs 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded), a 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. Unknown until SourceX reviews it: what the company may license, what contracts allow, buyer interest and any offer. Partners sign the Channel Partner Agreement before submitting introductions.
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 client has a dated cleanup plan and its dispute history still links old serials to new ones, register as a partner, check the company against who qualifies and read the program terms before stage 2 begins.