What needs agreeing before the handover starts?
Set one date at which responsibility changes and write down what each team will finish on either side of it. Specify the legal entity, bank accounts, reporting period, payroll cycle and tax returns in scope. In a group, repeat that exercise for each company rather than treating the group name as a single set of books.
The cut-off is the point after which the new team records transactions. If the outgoing team is still posting invoices or adjustments after that point, agree how those changes will be passed across and checked. Otherwise an apparently clean opening balance can change behind the new team's first report.
Ask for a named person to supply operational information, a person to approve payroll and payments, and a deputy for absence. The finance team can prepare a payment list, but the business still needs to decide who is authorised to release it. Put filing responsibility in the same register, including any return due during the changeover.
Our management accounts and outsourced finance service sets out the ongoing work. If you are still deciding whether to outsource, the finance department cost comparison covers that earlier decision. This checklist starts once you are preparing the handover.
Which records should the business prepare?
Start with records that let the new team explain what the company owns, owes and has earned at the handover date. The trial balance is the list of account balances from the bookkeeping system. It is useful only when its customer, supplier, bank and other balances can be matched to the underlying detail.
Keep a file register with the entity, period, source system, export date, person supplying it and acceptance result. Ask for usable exports as well as readable reports. A screenshot of a total cannot replace the transactions needed to investigate it.
| Record set | What to supply | What acceptance means |
|---|---|---|
| Accounts and ledger | Last agreed accounts, trial balance, transaction export and approved adjustment list | The opening position agrees to the prior close, with later movements explained |
| Bank and cash | Statements for every account, reconciliations, card balances and payment-platform settlements | Each recorded balance is explained against independent statements and outstanding items |
| Customers and suppliers | Invoice-level balances, credit notes, receipts, disputes and supplier statements | Detailed balances agree to the ledger; differences have evidence, owners and dates |
| Payroll and pensions | Current employee and year-to-date reports, prior submissions, liabilities and payment records | The next payroll has agreed inputs, a checker, approver and payment owner |
| Tax and commitments | Filed returns, tax account records, loans, leases, large contracts and deadline calendar | The team knows what has been filed, what is owed and who owns the next deadline |
| Stock and operations | Stock counts where relevant, project records, site or contract coding and budgets | Income and cost reports can be linked to the way the business actually operates |
As checked on 22 September 2026, GOV.UK company-record guidance requires accounting evidence covering receipts, spending, assets and debts. It states that records are normally retained for six years from the end of the financial year concerned, with longer retention in specified circumstances. A change of accountant is not a reason to discard the old records.
Payroll has its own requirements. HMRC payroll-record guidance specifies records of pay, deductions, reports, payments and other employment information, normally kept for three years from the end of the relevant tax year. It also flags separate rules for minimum-wage and statutory-leave records. Do not apply one blanket deletion date to the whole staff archive.
A working checklist, without a signup
The tables below can be used as your handover register. For separate salary or tax planning, our free tax calculators are available too. They do not check opening balances or certify a payroll migration.
How should access and authority be handed over?
Use named accounts with permissions suited to each task. Someone viewing bank transactions does not automatically need payment authority, and someone preparing payroll does not necessarily need access to every HR document. Test that the new team can open the required records before removing access from the outgoing provider.
Keep an administrator account controlled by the business and a record of who holds each permission. Use the software's own invitation process, secure file transfer and multi-factor authentication where available. Agree how access will be withdrawn when someone leaves. Do not put passwords or one-time access codes in the handover spreadsheet or a WhatsApp message.
HMRC provides routes to authorise someone to act on your behalf. That authority is separate from an accounting-software subscription or bank permission. Record which taxes the agent is authorised for and confirm who is submitting any return due before the transfer is complete.
For a VAT-registered business, retain the link between transactions and submitted returns. HMRC's VAT record guidance requires specified records to be digital unless an exemption applies, and digital links where more than one product is used to keep records and submit returns. Agree the migration method before turning off the old system; manual copying between those products is not a substitute for the required digital link.
What does an accepted opening balance look like?
It has an evidence trail that another person can follow. In this illustrative UK business, the customer export initially lists £84,000 outstanding while the trial balance shows £72,000. The £12,000 difference cannot be dismissed as an import problem or written off merely to make the totals match.
Review finds £9,000 of approved credit notes and £3,000 of receipts already posted in the ledger but missing from the exported customer schedule. Correcting the schedule produces £72,000, which agrees to the ledger. Those transactions must not be posted again: the error was in the export used for the handover.
| Control | Illustrative handover finding | Acceptance decision |
|---|---|---|
| Customer balances | £84,000 export less £9,000 credits and £3,000 receipts = £72,000 ledger | Replace the incomplete schedule; do not duplicate ledger entries |
| Supplier balances | £47,000 list omits £5,000 of invoices already in the £52,000 ledger | Refresh the detailed list and check payment status before the next payment run |
| Bank balance | £28,000 statement agrees to £28,000 ledger; no outstanding items in this example | Record the statement date and reviewer, then retain the reconciliation |
The bank agreement does not prove the customer or supplier lists are right. Keep the three checks separate. If a difference remains, record the amount, likely cause, evidence requested, person responsible and due date. Say which management report is affected and whether the unresolved amount could change a decision.
For example, a director deciding what suppliers to pay needs the corrected £52,000 list, not the £47,000 export. An unresolved customer dispute also belongs beside the collection forecast, rather than disappearing into a general note that the books are still being tidied.
Experience behind the handover approach
Our ongoing work for a domiciliary care provider with about 46 staff includes payroll, bookkeeping and management reporting. Linking those records matters because a pay run, its bank payment and the staff-cost report describe different parts of the same transaction. The figures above are a separate illustration, not that client's data or a claimed saving.
How can you organise the first 30 days?
Use the sequence below as a planning framework. These are suggested handover windows, not statutory deadlines or a guaranteed implementation time. Confirm the actual dates against the pay run, tax calendar, condition of the books and agreed reporting period. A payroll due tomorrow takes priority over reorganising the document folders.
| Suggested window | Business owner supplies or approves | New finance team checks and returns |
|---|---|---|
| Days 1 to 5 | Entity list, access invitations, deadline calendar, payment approvers and outgoing-team contacts | Written scope, cut-off, file register and named responsibilities |
| Days 6 to 10 | Statements, invoices, prior accounts, payroll history and answers to opening queries | Reconciled starting balances and a priced catch-up scope if records need repair |
| Days 11 to 20 | Operational data, invoice approvals, payroll changes and collection priorities | A test of the weekly routine, payment approval trail and unresolved-exception list |
| Days 21 to 30 | Review of draft figures, explanations of unusual trading and decisions on unresolved items | First agreed-period pack, clear limitations, action owners and the next close timetable |
At each stage, mark items accepted only after the stated check. If a key bank account cannot be accessed, the payroll history is incomplete or the opening customer balance cannot be explained, revise the affected delivery date and record the consequence. Carrying on with an unlabelled estimate only moves the problem into the first management pack.
A handover can start part-way through a month, but the first report still needs a defined period. Agree whether the new team will complete the current month or start with the following full month. Allocate the remaining current-period work explicitly so that neither team assumes the other has filed it.
Several entities or systems to hand over?
Tell Kris which companies, systems and payroll dates are involved. You can discuss the scope without sending confidential employee files. Discuss your handover on WhatsApp.
When is the first month end ready to accept?
Accept it when the balances can be explained, the reports cover the agreed period and any unresolved issue is visible. A polished profit figure is not enough if nobody has checked the bank, payroll liabilities or unpaid invoices behind it.
- Agree the starting point. Retain the opening trial balance, supporting schedules and the approved changes made during handover.
- Check the reporting boundary. Confirm the entities, period, missing invoices, stock or project adjustments and payroll included in the pack.
- Read the exceptions. Each unresolved item needs an amount where known, an owner, a date and a clear statement of which figure it may affect.
- Confirm the next deadlines. Name who prepares, approves, files and pays each item, including cover when the usual approver is absent.
- Close the access loop. Keep the retained archive available, confirm business-controlled administrator access and remove obsolete permissions after continuity has been checked.
Ask for a comparison with the previous period where the information is reliable, but do not force a comparison between incompatible data sets. If the old figures were prepared differently, explain the difference before using the new pack to judge a site's performance or change a contract price.
| Handover approach | Useful contribution | Responsibility to keep explicit |
|---|---|---|
| Business-led preparation | Operations staff identify contracts, disputes, stock and upcoming changes | Who supplies records and approves business decisions |
| Outgoing finance team | Provides agreed accounts, exports and explanations of historic entries | Who completes the remaining period and passes across later adjustments |
| LOYALS ongoing support | Coordinates the agreed bookkeeping, reporting and payroll work | Written service scope, payment approvals and the first-close acceptance criteria |
LOYALS Accountants & Business Consultants helps established UK businesses bring their finance records and monthly reporting into one agreed process. Bring the company list, current systems and next payroll date to the first conversation so the handover can be scoped around the work that is actually due.