diff --git a/components/newappeal/buildsection.js b/components/newappeal/buildsection.js
index c8d53cf7..ea743e26 100644
--- a/components/newappeal/buildsection.js
+++ b/components/newappeal/buildsection.js
@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@ import { connect } from "react-redux";
 import { formValueSelector, reduxForm } from "redux-form";
 import { uploadFiles } from "../../actions/services/documentService";
 import { sendEmail } from "../../actions/services/notifyService";
+import {
+    normalizeYesNoBooleans,
+    removeNullKeys,
+    stripInternalKeys
+} from "../../lib/newappeal/payloadCleanup";
 import {
     setCurrentSection,
     setDocumentsList,
@@ -218,19 +223,9 @@ let BuildSection = (props) => {
                 "/incidents(" + incidentId + ")"
         });
 
-        updateBody = JSON.stringify(updateBody);
-        updateBody = updateBody.replace(/:"Yes"/gm, `:true`);
-        updateBody = updateBody.replace(/:"No"/gm, `:false`);
-        updateBody = JSON.parse(updateBody);
-
-        Object.keys(updateBody).forEach((key) => {
-            if (updateBody[key] === null) {
-                delete updateBody[key];
-            }
-            if (key.indexOf("_") == 0) {
-                delete updateBody[key];
-            }
-        });
+        updateBody = normalizeYesNoBooleans(updateBody);
+        updateBody = removeNullKeys(updateBody);
+        updateBody = stripInternalKeys(updateBody);
 
         //console.log(updateBody);
 
diff --git a/components/newappeal/complete.js b/components/newappeal/complete.js
index b1106c76..0c6a84fc 100644
--- a/components/newappeal/complete.js
+++ b/components/newappeal/complete.js
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import { useEffect } from "react";
 import { connect } from "react-redux";
 import { formValueSelector } from "redux-form";
 import { sendEmail } from "../../actions/services/notifyService";
+import { normalizeYesNoBooleans } from "../../lib/newappeal/payloadCleanup";
 import { setCurrentSection } from "../../store/appealType/action";
 import { getFormCollectionByID } from "../utils";
 
@@ -31,10 +32,7 @@ let CompleteAppeal = (props) => {
                 "/incidents(" + incidentId + ")"
         });
 
-        updateBody = JSON.stringify(updateBody);
-        updateBody = updateBody.replace(/:"Yes"/gm, `:true`);
-        updateBody = updateBody.replace(/:"No"/gm, `:false`);
-        updateBody = JSON.parse(updateBody);
+        updateBody = normalizeYesNoBooleans(updateBody);
 
         let updateFormCollection = appTypeCollection.LogicalCollectionName;
         let primaryAttribute = appTypeCollection.PrimaryIdAttribute;
diff --git a/context/refactor-tracker.md b/context/refactor-tracker.md
index b12e85c0..c093d347 100644
--- a/context/refactor-tracker.md
+++ b/context/refactor-tracker.md
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ Base branch for this tracker: `refactor`
 
 ## Status
 
-Current slice: Slice 1 — XML/Form Derivation Extraction  
-Status: NOT STARTED
+Current slice: Slice 2b — File Merge/Dedupe Helpers  
+Status: READY TO START
 
 ---
 
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ Status: NOT STARTED
 
 ### Slice 1 — XML/Form Derivation Extraction
 
-Status: NOT STARTED
+Status: COMPLETE
 
 - Extract XML parsing helpers into lib
 - Keep selectors identical
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ Status: NOT STARTED
 
 ### Slice 2a — Payload Cleanup Helpers
 
-Status: NOT STARTED
+Status: COMPLETE
 
 - Extract boolean normalization
 - Extract null/internal key stripping
diff --git a/lib/newappeal/payloadCleanup.js b/lib/newappeal/payloadCleanup.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..762d2293
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/newappeal/payloadCleanup.js
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+export const normalizeYesNoBooleans = (updateBody) => {
+    updateBody = JSON.stringify(updateBody);
+    updateBody = updateBody.replace(/:\"Yes\"/gm, `:true`);
+    updateBody = updateBody.replace(/:\"No\"/gm, `:false`);
+    updateBody = JSON.parse(updateBody);
+
+    return updateBody;
+};
+
+export const removeNullKeys = (updateBody) => {
+    Object.keys(updateBody).forEach((key) => {
+        if (updateBody[key] === null) {
+            delete updateBody[key];
+        }
+    });
+
+    return updateBody;
+};
+
+export const stripInternalKeys = (updateBody) => {
+    Object.keys(updateBody).forEach((key) => {
+        if (key.indexOf("_") == 0) {
+            delete updateBody[key];
+        }
+    });
+
+    return updateBody;
+};