For advisors
A CFO guide to winding down a company
You are inside the company, and the ledger has to stay true while the close is underway. The company pays nothing to Vetrix. The data partner pays Vetrix's fee. Any payment to the company is in US dollars on the agreement's terms, and your auditor decides how to record it. The read-only check does not move data. If you sign, you sign for the company.
Up to $150K · $0 cost · 3 days
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Cost | The company pays nothing to Vetrix. There is no Vetrix invoice to accrue, and no journal entry for a bill that was never issued. |
| Who pays Vetrix | The data partner pays Vetrix's fee, not the company. If no agreement is signed, nobody pays anything. |
| Incoming payment | Payment to the company is in US dollars on the agreement's terms. Ask the auditor how the company should record it. |
| The check | The read-only check does not copy or move data. Tell IT the link is read-only and can be disconnected. |
| Tax records | Records the company must keep for tax are a different pile from the licensed copy. The license does not set those retention duties. |
What CFOs are deciding
You are inside the company, and the ledger has to stay true while everything else is being turned off or sold. You need three things you can defend: what the company pays Vetrix, who pays Vetrix, and how any money coming in is recorded. The first is nothing. The second is the data partner, not the company. The third is your auditor's question, answered from the agreement. You also need IT to understand that a check is read-only. You may be the officer who signs. You still sign for the company.
Your role as a CFO, and who signs
Leave the ledger without a Vetrix payable, because no bill exists. Confirm the read-only scope with whoever administers the systems, and tell them the link can be disconnected. Keep the tax file separate from any licensed copy. Retention for the books is not set by a data license. Your auditor decides the entry for an incoming payment in US dollars if a payment is ever due under the agreement. Bring the agreement, not a summary, to that conversation.
The company signs an NDA and the licensing agreement directly with the data partner, not with Vetrix. We tell the company the data partner's name before anyone signs.
What to tell a client
Will we get an invoice?
No. The company pays nothing to Vetrix. There is no payable to enter and nothing to wire before a signature.
Who is on the other side of the agreement?
The data partner. Vetrix is not a party to the license. You see the terms before anyone signs.
Does the check export the ledger?
No. The link is read-only. Nothing is copied or moved, and IT can disconnect it.
For the records side of the close, read what to do with company data when closing a business. A license does not replace that sequence. Compare final paycheck rules in every state before you set the final payroll.
Checklist
| Check |
|---|
| Confirm the company pays nothing to Vetrix. |
| Confirm the data partner pays Vetrix's fee, from the agreement, not from a guess. |
| Ask the auditor how to record any incoming payment. |
| Confirm with IT that the link is read-only and can be disconnected. |
| Keep tax records as their own file. A license is not a tax opinion. |
When a different role fits
If you are the outside accountant, not the finance lead inside the company, your job is the books the final return needs. The finance lead's job is the company's own ledger, the auditor, and the read-only link.
For the company's side of this, read what to do with company records after layoffs.
If that is your job instead, read helping clients close a business.
If you are the person deciding whether to shut the company, read options for founders shutting down a startup.
For the wider job, read how to wind down a company. Other roles are under company data licensing for advisors.
Read how company data licensing works for the steps. For the four license terms, read the company data license agreement, in plain English.
Related
- For advisors
Company data licensing for founders, finance leaders, investors, and advisors.
- Winding down
Order of operations to wind down a company, from approval through taxes and dissolution.
- Accountants
What an external accountant checks. A license does not replace the books.
- After layoffs
Records after layoffs, while the company keeps operating.
- How it works
The six steps from a short enquiry to payment, and how to stop.
- License terms
The four license terms: what you give, keep, agree, and sign.
Questions about data licensing for CFOs
Does the company get a bill from Vetrix?
No. The company pays nothing to Vetrix, so the ledger has no Vetrix payable and nothing to wire before a signature. The fit decision is free. If no agreement is signed, nobody pays anything. Money that later comes in is a different entry, on the agreement's terms, in US dollars. Bring that agreement to your auditor and let the auditor decide the entry. The fit reply itself is not a payment.
Which party pays the company, Vetrix or the data partner?
The company signs the licensing agreement with the data partner, not with Vetrix. Vetrix is not a party to that agreement. Any payment to the company is on the agreement's terms, in US dollars, and you see those terms before you sign. Ask the auditor how to record an incoming payment. Do not book it before the agreement exists. The fit decision is not itself a payment.
Who decides how the company records the payment?
Your auditor. Ask the auditor how the company should record a payment that arrives under the licensing agreement. A description of the license is not that entry, and it is not a tax opinion. The company pays nothing to Vetrix, so there is no expense entry for a Vetrix fee. The incoming amount, if any, is the auditor's question. Bring the signed agreement, not a summary.
Does the read-only check copy our ledgers out?
No. The check uses a secure read-only link. Nothing is copied or moved, and you can disconnect the link at any time. Tell IT that scope before anyone connects a system. Ledgers the company must keep for tax stay in the company's own file. A licensed copy, if you later sign, is a later step and is not the check. You approve each system before anything is shared.
Sources
- Vetrix Labs. Vetrix Data Licensing.