An acquisition is a sequence of judgements made by different people over weeks: this finding is right, this match is the same business, this control is accepted with a condition, this memo is final. When the deal is reviewed a year later, the question is always the same — who agreed to what, on which figures, and when. The decision record is where that answer lives.
What is written to it
| Event | What is kept |
|---|---|
| An answer to a prepared decision | The agent, the action, the level, the facts it rested on, the answer (accept, reject, change), the person, the note, the time. |
| A finding reviewed | Approved for the memo or rejected, by whom, with notes. |
| A control that fired | The rule and its version, the figures it read, the outcome (warn, refer, block) and who it referred to. |
| A sign-off | The practice leader's answer on the controls, signed as them. |
| A stage move | From, to, who, when — and the blockers that stopped it if it was refused. |
| A rule published | The version, who published it and why. |
which rule version,
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A record, read back
For the illustrative Ironwood Risk Partners at IC memo, the controls section of the record reads:
| Section | Hit | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | REVENUE_SHORTFALL: book revenue against the seller's −8.2% | refer |
| Key people | KEY_PRODUCER: top producer 26.1% of revenue | refer |
| Revenue mix | VOLATILE_REVENUE: contingent and supplemental 17.1% | warn |
| Carriers | UNAPPOINTED_CARRIERS: 58.7% of premium not fully appointed | warn |
Signed as the person
When an agent's prepared decision is accepted, the action is carried out as the person who accepted it, and the record is signed with their identity from the platform sign-in. Agents run as themselves, with their own identity, so the record never confuses what an agent prepared with what a person decided.
For the deal team
Your approvals and sign-offs are on the record in your name, with the figures you saw.
For IT
Built on the shared insight_decisions package (sign_off, write_hits) used by every Insight product.
For corp-dev leadership
Any acquisition can be replayed for an auditor, a committee or a post-close review.
Keep reading
Acquisition controls in Rules Studio
Acquisition policy written as rules a practice leader can read and test.
Read article
The seller's revenue the book won't support
An asking multiple of 2.9×, and a book 8.2% short of the seller's figure.
Read article
Two producers, 55% of the revenue
Key-person risk turned into retention agreements before signing.
Read article