Interim CFO turnaround checklist: records, covenants and data value in the first weeks

Why records belong on an interim CFO's first-weeks list

An interim CFO's turnaround checklist usually opens with cash, the lender and the cost base. Add records in week one, because the cost-out plan you are about to approve decides which systems survive: cancelling a support or CRM tool to save a subscription fee can erase a decade of history that a licensing deal might have used.

That history has a market. AI developers training agents to carry out real work need records of multi-step workflows, decisions and outcomes, which rarely appear on the public web. Researchers at Epoch AI project that, if current trends continue, language models will fully use the stock of public human-generated text sometime between 2026 and 2032, a forecast with wide uncertainty. A license will not rescue a distressed company, but it can be a non-dilutive line on the asset list, and preserving the option costs very little.

The checklist

Weeks 1-2: systems and spend

• Build the system list from the general ledger, accounts payable and corporate cards, then reconcile it with IT's list.
• For each system, record the owner, annual cost, renewal date, notice period, data retention after cancellation and export format.
• Mark systems holding five to ten or more years of history, and any archived platforms the company still pays for.
• Add an export sign-off to the cost-reduction approval workflow, so no tool is cancelled before its data is preserved.
• Pull payroll history to confirm full-time headcount at the company's peak, contractors excluded.

Weeks 1-3: retention and records terms

• Check retention settings in email, chat and file sharing, and switch off auto-deletion where policy allows.
• Compare the written records retention schedule, if one exists, with what the company actually keeps.
• Confirm leavers' accounts are suspended or archived rather than deleted.
• Collect privacy policy versions, customer contract data clauses and employee monitoring notices.

Weeks 2-4: lender documents and approvals

• Read the credit agreement's covenants on asset dispositions, exclusive licenses of intellectual property and permitted transactions.
• Check whether the security package reaches intangibles, and whether disposition proceeds must be applied to the loan.
• Read any forbearance agreement for consent rights, milestones and new reporting duties.
• Note the board, special committee or equity sponsor approvals needed for a contract outside the ordinary course.

Weeks 3-6: data value screen

• Count the systems that hold records; strong candidates often run 10-15 or more across email, chat, CRM, finance, support, engineering and operations.
• Confirm the company created the records and that customer contracts allow licensing.
• Identify the sponsor who can sign: owner, CEO, CFO or another authorized representative, within what your engagement and the board allow.
• Run the company fit checker for a preliminary, non-binding read.

Manufacturers have a specific record set worth listing; the quality inspection records checklist covers it.

Where do license proceeds belong in the 13-week cash flow?

Outside the base case. A possible license is upside until a license is signed, the buyer has selected the data and an invoice has gone out, and even then it stays contingent until cash arrives.

Three rules keep the forecast honest:

• Put the costs in the base case: export work, storage kept alive and counsel's time on rights review.
• Never present possible license proceeds as committed cash in a lender presentation, a covenant reset or a forbearance request.
• Check whether the credit agreement would sweep the proceeds to the lender before modeling them as liquidity.

Accounting treatment needs its own conversation. Under ASC 606, a license is assessed as either a right to use intellectual property as it exists when granted, recognized at a point in time, or a right to access it over the license period, recognized over time, as Deloitte's revenue recognition roadmap explains. How a data license is structured can change when revenue is recognized, so agree the treatment with the auditors before booking anything.

This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm with your own counsel, tax adviser or professional body before acting.

When should you introduce the company to SourceX?

Once exports are protected and the lender position is clear. Use these if-then rules:

How the introduction works

1. You register as a partner and submit the company, or send the CEO your referral link to sourcex.si/apply.
2. SourceX checks size, history, breadth of records and rights with the sponsor.
3. The company inventories its systems: which ones, the years covered and what can be exported. No records leave the company at this stage.
4. SourceX and the company agree one all-in price, with SourceX's fee included and no separate charges.
5. The opportunity goes to AI labs and data buyers, who typically respond within about two weeks once a company is deal-ready.
6. Data moves only after an executed agreement and the company's authorization, under redaction rules agreed before work begins.
7. Your reward, if any, follows once SourceX has received its fee.

What to say to the CEO and board

Rewards and your engagement terms

Partners earn 25% of the eligible platform fees SourceX actually collects from the referred company's licensing deals, capped at $100,000 per referred company. Rewards become payable only after the buyer pays and SourceX receives its fee, no reward is guaranteed, and the reward is never deducted from what the company receives.

Read your engagement letter and firm policy before registering, and check whether either restricts outside compensation linked to the client. CPAs in public practice should know that the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct bars accepting a commission for recommending a product or service to a client when the member or firm also performs an audit, review, certain compilations or an examination of prospective financial information for that client, and requires permitted referral fees to be disclosed. State boards can be stricter, so confirm with yours. The fractional CFO referral overview covers the role more broadly.

When to leave it off the list

• Payroll history shows the company never had 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded).
• Most records belong to clients, or are consumer personal data or patient records.
• Archives are already deleted and no backup exists.
• The data was already licensed for AI training.
• Nobody can run an export, and nobody can be retained to do it.

Next step

Add the export sign-off to this week's cost-reduction approvals. When the screen looks positive, register as a partner and make the introduction. If the company moves toward a formal insolvency process, the IP and data asset audit checklist is the document a trustee or receiver will want next.