Synthetic reference · Acquisition integration
Acquisition reporting workbench
A new company adds $5 million of quarterly revenue. An unmapped account hides $600,000. Find the gap before it reaches the portfolio pack.
Meridian Field Services acquired fictional Beacon Sensors on April 1, 2026. This example compares Q2 2026 with Q2 2025 in USD. The legacy business is unchanged in scope; the acquired company contributes a full quarter. Calendar, currency, and revenue policy are held constant, with no intercompany activity.
Acquisition effective date: 2026-04-01Illustrative integration policy; not a client record
- Comparable legacy revenue
- $22,000,000
- Acquired revenue in working model
- $4,400,000
- Working portfolio revenue
- $26,400,000
- Comparable growth
- 10.00%
- Working reported growth
- 32.00%
- Model minus acquired source
- -$600,000
Release blocked: account 4110 is unmapped and the model is $600,000 below the source total.
| Account | Source amount | Target | Review |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4100 · Equipment revenue | $4,400,000 | Revenue | Mapped |
| 4110 · Service revenue | $600,000 | Unmapped | Controller review required |
Approval only updates this browser example. Changing scenarios resets the review and returns to the original snapshot.
Published figures retain their version.
| Release | Portfolio revenue | Change | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| v1 · July 15, 2026 | $27,000,000 | Original release | Preserved approved snapshot |
No new revision approved in this exercise.
Growth needs a comparable denominator.
The legacy business increased from $20 million to $22 million: ($22m − $20m) ÷ $20m = 10% comparable growth. With $5 million of acquired revenue, total reported revenue is $27 million and growth is 35%. The 25 percentage-point acquired contribution and 10 percentage-point comparable contribution add to that 35% under this example’s fixed assumptions.
Comparable growth excludes Beacon in both periods. It is not pro forma growth for the enlarged business: that requires Beacon’s prior-period figures and agreed adjustments. The unmapped $600,000 wrongly reduces working reported growth to 32%; a late $100,000 correction would increase the corrected total to $27.1 million and reported growth to 35.5%. Undefined denominators display as unavailable.
Acquisition handoff checklist
- Confirm the acquired entity, consolidation perimeter, effective date, and legal-entity identifiers with finance.
- Retain source files and versions. Map accounts, units, sign conventions, calendars, and currencies explicitly.
- Reconcile the mapped company total to its submitted source before rolling up the portfolio.
- Label reported, comparable, and pro forma views with their own inclusion rules.
- Keep an approved snapshot; record a corrected version with its reason, difference, and reviewer.
- Test a late file, unmapped account, missing comparison period, and failed source refresh before handoff.
Published September 11, 2026. This demonstration isolates revenue mapping and version review; a live integration also needs the company’s actual accounting, currency, elimination, and access policies. Read the acquisition reporting guide.
Bring the next acquisition into a reviewable reporting cycle.
Start with one output, its current sources, and the people who own the decision. Agree a useful assessment and the first implementation boundary.