Can matching amounts establish that two schedules say the same thing?

No. Check the conditions, timing, scope, and definitions attached to those amounts as well.

Check a French and English commercial schedule before signing

Executive summary

Compare the versions by obligation and source location. Keep translation differences, commercial discrepancies, and questions about controlling language as separate review findings.

Match the versions and annexes before comparing text.

Check numbers and conditions as carefully as terminology.

Obtain approval for every material discrepancy.

Confirm that the versions belong together

A French schedule may be attached to an English master agreement while an earlier English translation remains in the folder. Record the document date, version, annex number, and execution status before starting a comparison.

Ask the deal team which texts are intended to form the signed agreement. A similar filename is insufficient evidence that two documents represent the same negotiated position.

Compare obligations rather than paragraphs

Align the scope of work, deliverables, acceptance conditions, payment milestones, and service dates. Paragraphs may move between versions, so a line-by-line comparison alone can miss a substantive mismatch.

Preserve the original wording and location for each discrepancy. Use separate fields for the proposed translation correction and a change requiring commercial approval.

Work through a payment condition

Assume one schedule links a payment to delivery while the other links it to acceptance. Both versions may use the same amount and date, yet the trigger differs. Flag the condition rather than reporting the schedules as financially consistent.

Ask the commercial owner to confirm the intended bargain and the legal reviewer to approve the drafting. Do not let a translation process choose the commercial position.

Check cross-references and controlling language

Review defined terms, annex references, incorporated documents, and any language clause. A corrected translation can still point to the wrong acceptance procedure. If the contract does not clearly resolve a language conflict, record that as a legal issue.

Use relevant French legal sources when the legal effect of a term needs research. Machine translation supports working review but does not establish a certified or authoritative version.

Close the signing version

Maintain a discrepancy log with the approved correction and the version in which it was made. Recheck the final combined signing pack, including tables and annexes, rather than relying on the last redline alone.

Give the signing team a clear completion record. Preserve unresolved items as explicit hold points, and save both final language versions in the approved matter file.

Sources and next steps

This is an editorial workflow guide for legal professionals. The suggested checks are our practical recommendations, not a statement that a regulator requires a particular software workflow.

Légifrance: French legal sources

Explore Translation and Review Matrix, or review Judicio's regional coverage and limitations. Check the underlying source and your organisation's approved process before relying on an output.