A SaaS side letter changed the deal: get the terms into finance

Ask the account owner whether any separate document or communication changes the signed order. Examples to investigate include a promised free extension, an implementation refund, additional training, a delayed start or a right to cancel. Preserve the actual wording and obtain legal review where enforceability or authority is unclear. Finance should receive the facts, including unresolved questions.

The revenue review depends on the contract's promises and consideration, concepts central to IFRS 15. A clean order form can therefore be an incomplete accounting input if other agreed terms alter those facts. The goal of the handoff is to expose the complete arrangement to the appropriate reviewers, not to have a bookkeeper decide whether a salesperson's message is legally binding.

Translate the arrangement into questions for the affected teams. A free month may change service dates and renewal timing. A refund condition needs an owner to assess whether its trigger occurred. Extra implementation work needs a delivery record. Keep the original text beside this operational interpretation so a shorthand note does not become a different promise.

Identify who approved the term and when the customer received it. If approval is missing, escalate the issue through the business's commercial process and retain the resolution. Avoid deleting the evidence while that review occurs. Customer communication and accounting assessment should follow the actual resolution, with any uncertainty visible until it is resolved.

A small register makes an unusual arrangement manageable. Each row should contain the source document, affected customer or subscription, effective period, operational owner and review status. Add links to billing changes and accounting conclusions when those are approved. A register is useful only if someone is responsible for checking that the promised action happened.

In a hypothetical deal, sales agrees to provide two additional training sessions and a credit if migration is unfinished by a stated date. Those are different work items. Delivery owns the sessions and migration evidence; the commercial owner interprets the approved concession with advisers; billing executes an authorized credit; accounting evaluates its treatment. One generic note saying special terms agreed leaves all four tasks uncertain.

Compare the approved terms with subscription settings, invoice previews, delivery plans and the revenue workpaper. A credit recorded in the CRM may never reach billing. A free extension applied in the product may leave the original renewal invoice scheduled. Review the actual system results rather than accepting an assurance that another team will handle them.

Send the customer an accurate confirmation through the authorized account owner. Retain the wording and effective date. If the business cannot carry out the promised arrangement as configured, agree a supported alternative and obtain the necessary approval before substituting it. Record any remaining action with a due date and named owner.

Add a deal-intake question about terms outside the standard order and make it easy to attach them securely. Remind sales teams what finance needs using actual categories of concessions rather than asking only whether a deal is unusual. Review material open items before reporting so the accountant has time to request missing evidence.

Keep the final agreement, interpretation and execution records together. If an outsourced provider prepares the revenue schedules, include these documents in its contracted intake process and confirm who follows up when they are missing. That handoff preserves the commercial story after an account changes owners and lets the next reviewer understand why the billed arrangement differs from the standard price list.