This tree is part of the revenue allocation corrections guide. It answers one question: once you know a company kept its correction history, whose yes opens the discussion.
Who touched each record in a corrected allocation
A single corrected contract carries the fingerprints of sales, legal, revenue accounting, billing and the close team. Start with who created each record, because creation decides the gate it passes through.
| Record class | Created by | Who must agree before it is discussed |
|---|---|---|
| Signed contract and amendments | Sales and legal, with the customer | Counsel, after reading the customer confidentiality clause |
| Calculation versions and SSP tables | Revenue accounting | CEO, with the controller confirming ownership |
| Adjustment memos and approvals | Revenue accounting, reviewed by the controller | CEO, with the controller confirming ownership |
| Billing schedules and invoices | Billing operations | CEO, subject to customer terms |
| Journal entries | The close team, in the ledger | CEO, with finance confirming ownership |
| Audit working papers | The external audit firm | Not the company's; leave off the list |
The calculation rows carry the most judgment. Topic 606 requires the transaction price to be allocated on a relative standalone selling price basis at inception, and IFRS 15 says a list price is not presumed to be the stand-alone selling price. Every version therefore reflects choices made by revenue accounting and approved by the controller, which is why those two roles are central to the tree.
Gate by gate, from tool access to signer
Pass through each gate in order. The introduction is the first person who clears gate 4.
- Access gate. The billing administrator, the revenue systems lead and any outside systems advisor stop here. They can say which fields exist, how far back versions go and whether locked arrangements can still be opened. In a NetSuite prospective merge, for example, the original arrangements are ended and locked, so the systems lead is the person who knows whether that before state is still reachable. Useful, but not authority.
- Convening gate. The head of revenue accounting. Ask them to sponsor, to estimate modified contracts per year, and to bring in the CEO.
- Ownership gate. The controller confirms which records are the company's, which are customer documents, and where memos live. In a group, ownership may sit with a parent entity, which the holding company CFO page describes.
- Authority gate. The CEO, able to commit company records to an agreement. This is the introduction.
- Counsel gate. Counsel reads the customer confidentiality terms. If counsel has not heard about the request, the sponsor brings them to the first call.
NetSuiteThe frequent mistake is treating gate 2 as the end. The head of revenue accounting's support matters; it is not a signature.
Where customer contracts and auditors change the answer
Three branches turn amber. The partner records that each exists and leaves it to the people named.
Customer confidentiality. Contracts and amendments often restrict disclosure of pricing and terms. Counsel decides whether contract-derived fields can be included at all, and in what aggregated or de-identified form.
Commercially sensitive pricing. SSP tables reveal how the company prices. Even where the company owns them outright, the CFO may recommend excluding or banding them.
Audit working papers. The audit firm's own file is not the company's to license. The company's memos and approvals are, but the controller should confirm none were written into the auditor's file only.
The data rights explainer sets out why these questions come before volume.
Same tree, two software companies (Illustrative)
Two fictional companies show how the gates land on different people. Neither is a real company or deal.
| Gate | 180-person B2B software company | 640-person software group with three subsidiaries |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Revenue systems lead and an outside NetSuite advisor | Shared-services ERP team |
| Convenes | Head of revenue accounting | Group revenue accounting director |
| Ownership | Controller | Subsidiary controllers, confirmed by group finance |
| Authority | CEO, with outside counsel | Group CEO, after the board is informed |
| Customer terms | Standard confidentiality clause | Several enterprise contracts with custom clauses |
| Likely starting scope | Calculation versions, memos and approvals | Same, for one subsidiary first |
Groups often run the same question across entities; the holdco playbook covers how decisions flow in that structure.
Unanswered until SourceX's rights review
When the CEO agrees to talk, be clear about what nobody yet knows:
- Inclusion: which record classes and years can be licensed after counsel reads the customer terms.
- Treatment: how much must be removed, aggregated or banded, especially contract amounts and SSP tables.
- Demand: whether any buyer wants this record type when SourceX reviews it.
- Terms: whether an offer is made.
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. Partners sign the Channel Partner Agreement before submitting introductions. Attribution goes to the first valid introduction within the 90-day window, credited when the company submits a verified application, and one partner is credited per company.
Record the signer in the revenue allocation corrections referral brief template. If the CEO asks what a correction looks like, the worked exception case shows one. Systems advisors new to the program can start with the accounting technology consultant page.
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.
Once the head of revenue accounting has brought in the CEO and counsel knows the request touches customer contracts, register as a partner, check the company on who qualifies and read the program terms before you make the introduction.