Lesson 5 of 6
Financial data acceptance
9 min
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Acceptance turns reconciliation results into a decision. The financial data acceptance is a formal, signed statement by finance that the migrated financial data is complete and accurate within the agreed tolerances, with any exceptions listed. It is an input to the go/no-go decision, and it is a document the external auditor will ask for.
Who signs
Acceptance is a finance responsibility. The program team prepares the evidence; finance decides. At Contoso, Dan, the finance process owner, signs for both migrations, and the corporate controller co-signs, because the opening balances become the basis of the financial statements. The test lead, Priya, confirms that the reconciliation was executed as planned; she does not accept the data.
| Role | Responsibility in acceptance |
|---|---|
| Finance process owner (Dan) | Reviews results and difference log; signs acceptance per company code |
| Controller | Co-signs; approves any adjustment postings and accepts residual risk |
| Migration lead | Prepares the reconciliation pack; confirms loads and logs |
| Test lead (Priya) | Confirms the reconciliation was executed per plan and evidence is complete |
| Cutover manager (Luis) | Places acceptance in the cutover plan as a go/no-go checkpoint |
| Internal audit | Reviews the process and evidence; does not sign the business acceptance |
Roles in financial data acceptance.
What the acceptance contains
- Scope: company codes, ledgers, objects and the cut-off date.
- Results per object: counts and totals at the three points, tolerance applied, pass or fail.
- Sample results: population, method, size, errors found and their resolution.
- Open differences and exceptions: each with amount, cause, owner, due date and why it does not block go-live.
- Adjustment postings: any approved correction postings with document numbers.
- Statement and signatures: a plain statement of acceptance, the date and time, and the names and roles of the signers.
- Mock 1Trial acceptanceRun the full reconciliation; draft acceptance shows what would block go-live
- Mock 2Conditional acceptanceMost checks pass; remaining exceptions have owners and fixes planned
- Dress rehearsalRehearsed acceptanceSigned as if real, within the cutover timings
- Cutover weekendFinal acceptanceSigned before the go/no-go call; exceptions listed
- First closePost go-live confirmationFirst period-end close confirms opening balances behave correctly
Linking acceptance to go/no-go
In a conversion, finance acceptance happens inside the downtime: after the technical conversion and the finance migration steps, before users are let back in. That puts it on the critical path of the 60-hour window. Luis's cutover plan starts validation at Sunday 10:00 with Dan's finance reconciliations first, the reports pre-defined and the comparison workbooks ready, and Dan signs the conversion acceptance for go/no-go 2 at Sunday 14:00. If acceptance cannot be signed, Grace's decision group must consider fallback to ECC; Sunday 18:00 is the latest time a fallback can start, which is why the plan states the latest time by which acceptance is needed.
- Are all checks within tolerance?Yes → recommend acceptance · No → next question
- Is every breach explained, with an owner and a fix that can be done after go-live?No → do not accept; escalate to go/no-go as a blocker · Yes → next question
- Does the controller accept the residual risk in writing?Yes → accept with listed exceptions · No → do not accept
- Is acceptance signed before the go/no-go deadline in the cutover plan?Yes → go/no-go proceeds · No → go/no-go considers fallback
What would you do?
At 12:30 on cutover Sunday, the conversion reconciliation for 1710 passes, except that the 2L (IFRS) ledger shows a difference of $1,240 on one asset account, explained by a known depreciation recalculation difference that the asset team can correct with a documented posting in the first week. Go/no-go 2 is at 14:00. What is the best path?
- Financial data acceptance is a signed finance decision, prepared by the program and signed by the process owner and controller.
- It lists scope, results per object, samples, exceptions, adjustment postings and signatures.
- Rehearse acceptance in every mock; the final one is on the critical path of cutover.
- Acceptance feeds go/no-go; an unsigned acceptance means the go/no-go considers fallback.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. Who should sign financial data acceptance?
2. When should acceptance first be attempted?
3. What must an accepted exception include?