Under the FAR, acceptance acknowledges that supplies or services conform with the contract's quality and quantity requirements, and it is usually evidenced by an acceptance certificate or receiving report. That certificate is the last record in a chain. The revisions and comments before it are what show how the deliverable got there, and they are the records closeout tends to scatter.
What should be inventoried before a contract closeout affects deliverable acceptance revisions history?
Closeout is a sequence of events, each of which can change what records exist or who can reach them. Map the inventory to the sequence.
| Closeout event | What happens to records | Ask before it happens |
|---|---|---|
| Final deliverable accepted | Revision chain is complete | Is every revision, comment and response matrix filed with the deliverable? |
| Final invoice and payment | Retention clocks often start | Which retention clauses apply? For federal contracts, FAR 4.703 sets a baseline of 3 years after final payment unless a clause sets longer |
| Project workspace archived | Users lose access; exports get harder | When is the workspace archived or the seat license canceled, and who can export first? |
| Team disbands | Context leaves with people | Who can explain the comment codes and criterion numbering later? |
| Document library cleanup | Version history may be trimmed | What version limits apply, and are any automatic? |
Retention duties are legal obligations that belong to the company and its counsel. FAR 4.703 also says contractors must not destroy or overwrite computer data during the retention period, which is one reason closeout is a sensible moment to inventory: the records should still be complete. This page does not recommend keeping anything beyond what the company has authority to keep; the inventory simply lets the right person decide with the facts in front of them. The guides on email archive migration and litigation hold versus data destruction cover adjacent decisions.
Which revision records can quietly go missing in the platforms themselves?
Two platform behaviors are worth asking about, because they affect what the inventory can honestly claim.
- Attachments live on each revision. In Procore, a new submittal revision inherits the general information and increments the revision number, but attachments are not carried over between revisions, and only the most recent revision can be revised. A complete chain therefore means every revision's own attachments, not only the last one. If someone deleted superseded revisions to tidy a closed project, the rejected versions are gone.
- Version history can be thinned. SharePoint in Microsoft 365 lets administrators set version history limits per library, including an automatic setting that thins out older versions; new libraries default to manual limits of 500 major versions with no expiration. A library switched to automatic limits during a cleanup may hold the accepted file but not the draft a reviewer rejected.
Procore
SharePointFor each system, the inventory line should say what the company believes is complete and what it has not checked, for example: "Submittal revisions with attachments, 2019 to 2025, complete; SharePoint deliverable library, version limits not checked."
What does a finished inventory line look like?
The table below is Illustrative, for a fictional 140-person environmental engineering firm with a federal site assessment contract heading into closeout. It shows the level of detail a partner needs, and no more.
| Record class | System | Years | Owner | Access risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contract, milestones, acceptance criteria | Contracts folder | 2021 to 2025 | Contracts manager | Low |
| Submitted revisions with attachments | Project platform submittals | 2021 to 2025 | Project controls lead | Workspace archived 60 days after final payment |
| Reviewer comment letters and response matrices | Document control library | 2021 to 2025 | Document controller | Version limits not checked |
| Acceptance certificates | Contracts folder and finance system | 2021 to 2025 | Contracts manager | Low |
Every cell is a count, a range, a name or a date. No deliverable, comment or certificate leaves the firm.
Who can open the discussion, and does the company qualify?
Start with the program operations director, who knows the deliverables, systems and closeout dates, then let them name the person who can authorize a licensing discussion: the CEO, or the owner in an owner-run firm, with counsel reading client and government data rights clauses. A document controller or project platform admin can describe exports but cannot license anything. What stays unknown until SourceX reviews it: which records are the firm's to license, how client and personal information would be de-identified, whether there is dataset demand, and any offer.
The introduced company needs 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded), a documented operating history, rights to license the records, 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 70% of the data is in English. Partners sign the Channel Partner Agreement before submitting, and the first valid introduction within the 90-day window is credited when the company submits a verified application.
As an Illustrative figure only, not a forecast or quote: an Actual Supplier Payout of $120,000 for a qualifying completed handoff would mean a default reward of $56,000, paid separately by SourceX and never deducted from the firm's payout. A reward becomes payable after SourceX has paid the referred company under its signed agreement and the payout conditions in the program terms are met, including finance approval and your tax and payment details. For context on why reviewed professional work is studied in AI evaluation, see what GDPval is. Related pages: engineering services firms, Procore project records, project histories with decisions and outcomes, and the industries hub.
Go deeper on deliverable acceptance revisions
- Deliverable acceptance revisions referral brief template: a fill-in template for the introduction note.
- Deliverable acceptance revisions exception examples: worked cases of submissions sent back, and the records that explain each one.
- Deliverable acceptance revisions records across systems: a map of the links between project platform, document control and contract files.
Next step
Refer a company. No cap on rewards. Default reward on a company's first qualifying transaction: the greater of $50,000 plus 5% and 15% of Actual Supplier Payout, with no cap; further qualifying transactions first agreed within 12 months of the first Closing pay 15%. Eligibility and payment conditions apply, including the USD 100,000 Minimum Transaction, and a signed Schedule A or addendum can differ. A lead, meeting or signature alone does not trigger payment.
If a client's contracts are heading into closeout with their revision chains intact, register as a partner, check the firm against who qualifies, and read the program terms before you send the program operations director your note.