---
title: "The policy has changed. Who acknowledged the new version?"
description: "Track who acknowledged a revised policy in SharePoint. A two-employee report shows how to match acknowledgements to a version and follow up before the deadline."
url: https://vitextra.com/en/blog/policy-acknowledgement-why
language: en
published: 2026-11-11
modified: 2026-11-11
products:
  - "Policy Acknowledgement"
---

# The policy has changed. Who acknowledged the new version?

On Monday, you email employees a link to the lost-laptop policy in SharePoint. On Tuesday, the security team changes the emergency phone number and publishes version 2.0 at the same link. On Wednesday, an employee replies, "I’ve read it." Did they read Monday’s instructions or Tuesday’s?

The date of the reply leaves both possibilities open. To answer the question, record which version the employee acknowledged when they confirmed. Then compare that record with the version they were assigned.

## Decide who needs to acknowledge the change

Start with what employees need to do differently. A spelling correction may need only a new entry in the document’s version history. A new emergency number changes what someone must do when a laptop goes missing. In this example, the security team [assigns version 2.0 to everyone covered by the policy](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10503) and asks them to acknowledge it by 20 November, including employees who already acknowledged version 1.0.

In the notification, tell employees what changed and give them a link to the assigned revision. In SharePoint, keep the earlier revision available in the document’s version history. That way, a policy owner can look up the instructions that applied when an employee acknowledged them.

## Record the version at the point of acknowledgement

Show the policy title and revision beside the confirmation action. For example, an employee [reviewing and acknowledging the updated instructions](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10506) could select **"I acknowledge version 2.0 of the Lost Laptop Policy."** Save the employee identifier, the policy identifier, the version shown and the time of confirmation together. If a newer revision is published while the employee has the page open, their confirmation still belongs to the revision they saw.

Keep each confirmation as a separate entry. When someone acknowledges version 2.0, their earlier confirmation of version 1.0 remains available for a question about last month’s instructions.

## Read the report and choose whom to remind

Build the report from the list of employees assigned the revision. For each person, look for a confirmation matching that employee, that policy and that exact version. Starting with the assignment list ensures that someone who has never responded still appears in the report.

The [Compliance Dashboard guide](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10508) explains how to review assignment data by department and export it to Excel.

Here is an illustrative report for the **Lost Laptop Policy**, as of **19 November 2026**. Both employees have until **20 November** to acknowledge the update.

| Employee | Assigned version | Latest recorded acknowledgement | Status for version 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maya Patel | 2.0 | Version 2.0 · 18 Nov 2026 | Acknowledged |
| Daniel Ortiz | 2.0 | Version 1.0 · 10 Nov 2026 | Pending |

Maya has completed the assignment. Daniel’s previous confirmation explains why he might remember acknowledging the policy, but his assignment for version 2.0 is still open. Filter the report to **Pending** and send Daniel a reminder that names the change: "The emergency number for reporting a lost laptop has changed. Please review version 2.0 and acknowledge it by 20 November."

When Daniel confirms, his row changes to **Acknowledged** and records the date for version 2.0. If the deadline passes first, the owner can follow up on the overdue assignment using the same report.

This is the workflow we’re designing for [Vitextra Policy Acknowledgement for Microsoft 365](https://vitextra.com/en/products/policy-acknowledgement). The practical question for the policy owner is always the same: for this revision, whose confirmation is still outstanding?

## See Also

- [Policy Acknowledgement](https://vitextra.com/en/products/policy-acknowledgement)
- [Troubleshooting Policy Hub Detection and Access](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10535)
- [How to Review and Export the Policy Audit Log](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10534)
- [Troubleshooting Policy Preview and a Disabled Acknowledge Button](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10537)