Your situation
What to do with company data when closing a business
You have decided to close, and the tools people use are still on. The records question is whether those systems can still be read before anyone turns them off. Finish that question while the company can still sign. A fit decision is a yes or no, not a reason to erase a workspace the same day.
Your duties for customer personal data are a separate job. Read what to do with customer data when closing a business.
Up to $150K · $0 cost · 3 days
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Check first | Do the inventory and the read-only check before you cancel the tools. Canceling first removes the systems the check has to read. |
| Company still exists | Sign while the company still exists. Complete the records decision before dissolution is filed. |
| Status | Winding down is an accepted status. The company can ask about a license while the close is underway. |
| Signer | The company, through its current directors or officers, is the signer. A founder does not sign in a personal capacity. |
| What the copy is | Staff names and customer details stay out of the copy. Export workflows that show how the work was done, not a staff directory. |
| Order of work | Work in this order: inventory, then the enquiry, then fit, then the read-only check, and only then canceling tools. |
The situation in plain words
The company has decided to close, or the close has started, and people can still open the tools. That is the window for the records. The wider close still includes who you tell, what you owe, and what you file with the state. Those tasks stay on their own track, and asking about a license does not shorten them. What you want from the tools is a description of the work: projects, tickets, and the way a case moved through the company. A system a customer controls, or a system a former owner still controls, stays out until that owner agrees. Keep an admin who can connect the company's own tools until you know whether a check will happen.
Who can decide, and who signs
Directors who have already resigned are not a backup signature. The people who can bind the company are the ones still in office on the day someone signs.
The agreement is company to company with the data partner. We tell you that partner's name before you sign. Vetrix is not on the signature block.
A resignation is not a signature on the license. Name the officer who is still in office, and have that person ready before people leave.
People hear it from the company
Staff should hear it from the company first. For the order of that conversation, read how to tell employees the company is closing.
What is possible
A license is possible only if the company meets the same rules as any other applicant: staff at peak, two years of records, daily-use systems, and the right to license. Closing does not replace those rules, and it does not guarantee a yes. You can stop after the fit decision. Nothing is uploaded with the enquiry.
Timing
Vendor deletion windows live on each tool's own page, so read that page before you pick a cancellation date from memory. A fit reply arrives within three days of a complete enquiry. It does not replace the calendar your lawyer already set for the close, and it does not pick the day a vendor erases a workspace. Use the vendor's own page for that day.
Read what happens to your Slack messages when you stop paying before that tool is turned off.
Read what happens to your data when you cancel Google Workspace before that tool is turned off.
What to do next
Write down the tools people still open every day, and name the admin who can connect each one.
Send the enquiry while those admins are still at the company. The form takes about three minutes and uploads nothing.
Treat the three-day reply as a yes or no about fit. It is not a price, and it is not a cue to delete a workspace that afternoon.
If the answer is yes, open a read-only link and leave it up only until the check is done. You disconnect it. Nothing is copied while it is up.
Turn tools off on the date your lawyer and your wind-down plan already set, after the check rather than in place of it.
Before you cancel anything, work through what to do before canceling software when closing a business.
Where to go next
For the wider job, read how to wind down a company. For every other position, see what to do with your company's records in your situation.
Does your company qualify to sell its data? Confirm that before you treat a license as available. Before a system is connected, you approve what is shared and never shared.
If the company is in a different position, start here:
For the same decision seen from your role, read options for founders shutting down a startup.
Related
- Your situation
What changes for your records in eight company situations.
- Winding down
Order of operations to wind down a company, from approval through taxes and dissolution.
- Eligibility
Staff, records, daily-use systems, and the right to license, plus a checker.
- What's shared
Which records can be licensed, which details never leave, and what you approve.
- Still operating
Licensing records without selling or closing.
- Already closed
Whether a closed company's records can still be licensed, and who may sign.
- Founders
What a founder decides, and why the company is the signer.
Questions about closing and company data
Should we cancel Slack and email before we ask about a license?
No. Slack and email are often where the work history still lives, and canceling them can start that vendor's deletion window before anyone has read the systems. Ask while an admin can still open them. The enquiry uploads nothing. You hear yes or no within three days, and that reply is not a price. If you proceed, the check uses a read-only link you can disconnect, and nothing is copied during the check. Leave the cancellation date your lawyer already set.
Can the company sign a data license while it is winding down but before it dissolves?
Yes, if the company still exists. Winding down is an accepted status, so the close being underway does not block the question. Settle it before dissolution is filed, because after that filing you may no longer have an officer who can bind the company. The fit reply is a yes or no within three days. It is not a dollar offer, and you can stop when you hear it. Your lawyer should see the agreement before anyone signs it.
Where is the full wind-down, beyond the records?
People, taxes, board approval, notices, and the state filing are a wider job than the records. Follow how to wind down a company for that sequence, from the decision to close through the dissolution filing. A license does not stand in for those steps, and it does not tell your staff the company is closing. Ask about the operational history while the tools are still on. Your lawyer still runs the notices and the filing.
Are employee names part of what can be licensed during a close?
No. Names, emails, phone numbers, and customer and staff details stay out of the copy. Personal details are removed before anything leaves the company, and you can hold back anything else. You approve each system before anything is shared. A close does not move a staff list or a customer list onto what can be licensed. What you can offer is the history of the work, such as tickets and the path a case took through the company.
Who signs if the founder is the person filling in the form?
Filling in the form does not make you the party. The company is the party, and an officer signs for it when there is an agreement. If you are not an officer, hand the agreement to the person who is. You can stop after the fit decision, before any signature. Ask your lawyer to read the agreement before that officer signs. A personal signature is not a company signature.
Sources
- Vetrix Labs. Vetrix Data Licensing.
- Vetrix Labs. Company data license agreement terms.