Post-Merger Integration Checklist: The First 100 Days
A post-merger integration checklist gives leadership and integration teams a practical way to organize the work that follows an acquisition. While every transaction has different objectives and risks, a structured checklist helps ensure that critical activities are not overlooked across people, operations, technology, finance, customers, and leadership. It also creates a common reference point for coordinating teams and tracking progress as the integration moves from planning through execution.
Stonehill helps organizations turn the complexity of integration into a manageable set of priorities. Rather than treating a checklist as a static list of tasks, we help leadership determine which activities are truly critical to the transaction, establish ownership, identify dependencies, and create the governance needed to keep the work moving. Our approach can support both pre-close planning and the ongoing execution that follows.
Post-Merger Integration Checklist
Integration Strategy
Define the strategic objectives of the transaction
Confirm the deal thesis and integration goals
Determine the desired level of integration
Identify critical integration priorities
Establish key milestones and decision points
Define how integration success will be measured
Day 1 Readiness
Confirm Day 1 leadership responsibilities
Establish employee and stakeholder communications
Identify critical operational requirements
Confirm customer and vendor considerations
Prepare key systems and access requirements
Establish Day 1 issue escalation procedures
Integration Management Office
Establish the Integration Management Office (IMO)
Define integration governance and decision rights
Assign workstream leaders and owners
Establish meeting and reporting cadence
Create an integrated master plan
Establish risk, issue, and dependency tracking
People & Organization
Confirm leadership structure
Assess organizational design requirements
Define roles and responsibilities
Identify critical talent and retention priorities
Align policies and ways of working
Develop change management and employee engagement plans
Operations & Processes
Map critical business processes
Identify overlapping or duplicative activities
Determine which processes should be standardized
Identify opportunities for process improvement
Establish future-state operating processes
Track operational risks and dependencies
Technology & Systems
Inventory critical technology and systems
Identify system integration requirements
Review data migration needs
Assess cybersecurity and access requirements
Establish technology integration priorities
Develop a transition plan for systems being consolidated
Finance & Administration
Align financial reporting requirements
Confirm accounting and reporting processes
Review budgets and cost structures
Track identified synergies and savings
Align administrative processes
Establish financial performance measures
Customers & Commercial Operations
Identify customer communication requirements
Protect key customer relationships
Review sales and account ownership
Align pricing, products, and commercial processes where appropriate
Identify cross-selling or growth opportunities
Monitor customer retention and performance
Value Realization
Connect integration initiatives to the deal thesis
Establish synergy and value targets
Assign accountability for value initiatives
Track progress against targets
Identify obstacles to value realization
Transition successful initiatives into ongoing operations
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