Your accounting firm is merging: what should you review?

An announcement that your accounting firm is joining another practice does not tell you which parts of your service will change. Ask who will contract with the company, who will deliver the work, and when the changes take effect. Start with upcoming commitments so important work does not get lost during the announcement.

Use the actual transaction description provided by the firm. A merger, an asset purchase, and a change in ownership can have different implications. AICPA Member Insurance Programs' acquisition guidance discusses integration of agreements, people, and systems; it does not establish that every client contract transfers in the same way.

Request a client-specific explanation. A general promise of more resources may be credible, but it should be connected to the people and services your company actually uses. Keep the assessment focused on continuity, terms, and the quality of future delivery.

Identify the legal entity named on the current engagement and any proposed replacement agreement. Ask which terms change, which work the new entity accepts, and how unfinished assignments are handled. Have a qualified adviser review material contractual uncertainty rather than assuming the announcement itself answers it.

Compare scope, fees, renewal dates, payment instructions, dispute terms, and termination provisions. A new brand or invoice format does not necessarily mean all terms changed, and a familiar contact does not guarantee they stayed the same.

Verify revised payment instructions through a known, trusted contact using your established process. An organizational change can generate legitimate administrative messages, but the company should still confirm the recipient and account details before changing its payment records.

Ask whether the preparer, reviewer, and relationship lead remain assigned. If someone changes, request a structured handoff of open issues, recurring decisions, unusual transactions, and near-term commitments. The company should not have to rediscover its own history because the provider reorganized.

The Journal of Accountancy's historical guidance on practice sales emphasizes that clients experience changes through people, service, and processes. Use that perspective to ask concrete questions about your next reporting cycle, while avoiding assumptions about the current policies of firms described in older examples.

A larger practice may introduce useful specialist access or coverage. Ask how you obtain it, whether it is included, and who coordinates the answer. Additional services have value when the company needs them and understands the engagement, not merely because they appear in the acquiring firm's brochure.

Ask what information will move, who can access it, and how the company will retrieve historical records during the transition. Include working files needed to explain balances, completed deliverables, and documents supplied by the company. Do not assume every category has the same ownership or access rules.

AICPA Member Insurance Programs' guidance on working papers during firm transitions describes confidentiality and record-transfer considerations. The applicable law, professional rules, engagement, and facts matter. Ask the firm to identify any required authorization and explain what the company is agreeing to before transfer.

Test a practical retrieval request after a system change. Can the authorized company contact still obtain the final prior-year report and the supporting records promised under the engagement? Resolve access gaps while the outgoing team is available to explain where the files are held.

A combined practice may have relationships or services that were not present before. Ask the firm whether it has assessed relevant conflicts and, where applicable, independence requirements for your engagement. Provide accurate information about the company's related parties and other services so that assessment is based on the right facts.

If the firm proposes a consent, a changed team, or a different service arrangement, ask what issue it addresses. Do not treat every potential conflict as disqualifying, or assume that signing a generic acknowledgment resolves every professional restriction.

Review how your other advisers will interact with the new arrangement. An external auditor, tax specialist, or internal finance leader may need a revised contact and clear instructions about where final decisions and supporting evidence should go.

Create a short transition record with the agreed changes, accountable contacts, and dates. During the next relevant cycle, verify that requests reach the right team, promised review occurs, and reports arrive with the expected evidence. Record actual service issues separately from the understandable disruption of learning a new portal.

If the arrangement no longer fits, assess a revised scope or a controlled provider change against the upcoming workload. Preserve necessary records and deadline ownership while deciding. A hurried exit can create a second transition before the first is understood.

Close the review when the company has a clear contract, a functioning team, accessible records, and evidence that the service can meet its commitments. Keep any remaining changes visible until an accountable person confirms they are complete.