This template belongs to the merchant settlement reconciliation guide. Use the warm introduction brief for the covering message, or the client opportunity brief generator for other record types.
Ground rules for the brief
- Describe, never attach. No settlement files, payout reports, portal screenshots, sample transactions or exports. Card numbers and anything the PCI Security Standards Council counts as cardholder data never appear, even masked.
- Counts carry a source. "About 2,600 variances a year (controller, estimate)" beats a precise number nobody can stand behind.
- Unknown is an answer. If nobody knows whether the adjustment log names approvers before a certain year, write unknown. Do not ask anyone to query a system to find out.
Blank template: copy and fill in
| Field | What to write | Who usually answers |
|---|---|---|
| Company and sector | Legal name, what it sells, how customers pay | Payments operations director |
| Headcount | Full-time employees at peak, contractors excluded | HR or finance |
| Payment providers | Each provider or acquirer by name, with years used | Payments operations director |
| Systems | ERP, reconciliation tool or spreadsheets, bank portal | Controller |
| Record classes | Daily close and settlement files, payout reports, transaction log, ledger entries, working files, adjustment log | Controller |
| Years of history | First and last year for each class | Controller |
| Volume | Transactions per month (rough), variances per year, share with written reasons | Controller |
| Transfer timing | Scheduled by the provider or triggered by finance, and when that changed | Treasury |
| Open question | The exception pattern nobody has yet checked across years | Payments operations director |
| Access deadline | Documented end of portal or API access, if any | Payments operations, procurement |
| Ownership note | Which records are the company's and which are provider reports | Controller, counsel |
| Authorized contact | Name and title of the officer who can approve a discussion | Controller or CFO |
| Sponsor | Who checked the brief for accuracy | Payments operations director |
The "Transfer timing" field is easy to skip and worth keeping. When a provider sends transfers on its own schedule, its reports can usually tie each transfer to the sales behind it. When finance triggered transfers by hand, that tie may exist only in the company's working files, which changes how much of the history explains itself, and it tells SourceX which years to look at more closely.
Completed example (Illustrative)
Every value is invented for a fictional merchant. It shows the level of detail to aim for; it is not a real company or opportunity.
| Field | Illustrative entry |
|---|---|
| Company and sector | Subscription software merchant; customers pay monthly by card |
| Headcount | About 340 full-time employees at peak (HR) |
| Payment providers | Provider A for seven years; Provider B from next quarter |
| Systems | ERP, a reconciliation tool since year three, spreadsheets before that, bank portal |
| Record classes | Daily close files, payout reports, transaction log, ledger entries, working files, adjustment log with approvers |
| Years of history | Seven years of daily close files; five years of working files in the tool |
| Volume | About 2,600 variances a year; most with a written reason (controller, estimate) |
| Transfer timing | Triggered by finance in years one and two, scheduled since |
| Open question | Were refunds after the 23:00 cutoff always tied to the next settlement run, or sometimes cleared with a generic timing journal? |
| Access deadline | Old portal closes on the termination date in the signed notice |
| Ownership note | Ledger, working files and adjustment log are the company's; daily close files and payout reports are processor reports |
| Authorized contact | CEO, with general counsel |
| Sponsor | Payments operations director |
The open question is what makes the brief worth reading. Stripe notes that a payout ID can return only the transactions behind that payout, which is how a team checks whether a late refund landed in the expected settlement run. A business whose history can answer that question across seven years, with an approver on each adjustment, has something specific to discuss.
StripeFilling it in during one short call
Most briefs can be completed in a twenty-minute conversation, without anyone opening a system. A workable agenda:
- Five minutes on shape. What the company sells, how customers pay, headcount and which providers it has used since it started taking cards.
- Ten minutes on history. For each record class, the first year anyone remembers and whether it was kept continuously. Write ranges, not exact dates.
- Three minutes on the question. Ask what puzzle finance has never had time to answer across all those years. Their phrasing usually becomes the open question.
- Two minutes on people. Who approved adjustments over time, who signs material contracts today, and whether the sponsor is willing to forward the brief upward.
Send the draft back the same day and ask the sponsor to correct it. Nothing in the brief should surprise the officer who receives it, and nothing should need a follow-up export to verify.
Mistakes that weaken the brief
- Naming the engineer as contact. API access is not authority; the decision tree on who can license these records finds the officer.
- Leaving out the deadline. If old-portal access ends on a documented date, say so; the retention timeline shows which records go first.
- Counting provider reports as owned. Mark them separately for counsel.
- Selling the outcome. The brief describes records; it never promises a deal or a figure.
Qualification check before sending
The 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 90% of the data is in English. Partners sign the Channel Partner Agreement before submitting introductions; the first valid introduction within the 90-day window is credited when the company submits a verified application.
Unknown until SourceX reviews it: buyer interest, which records the company has rights to license, how processor terms apply, de-identification needs, the offer and any reward. When the owner asks why anyone would want reconciliation history, how AI labs buy data helps; retail merchants are also covered on the e-commerce 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.
When the payments operations director has checked every field and the named officer agrees to a call, register as a partner, confirm the company on who qualifies and keep the program terms beside the brief as you submit it.