Run a controlled overlap when moving the business to a new bank

List receipts and payments that use the old account, including occasional annual items. Separate customer instructions, processor payouts, payroll funding, tax payments, supplier debits, standing instructions and issued checks. Identify who can change each route and what confirmation it provides. A balance transfer alone does not move these dependencies.

The FDIC's switching guidance recommends moving automatic activity, monitoring both accounts and allowing outstanding withdrawals to post before closure. For a business, apply those practical principles to the actual treasury services and contracts. Confirm bank-specific requirements rather than assuming a consumer account checklist covers every company payment product.

Confirm the legal holder, currency, payment capabilities, approvers and record access. Check that the accounting team can obtain statements and map the account correctly. Verify payment controls and limits against the business's needs. Opening approval and usable payment capacity can be separate milestones.

Use an authorized test or initial legitimate transaction to confirm the route and resulting records. Check both the bank status and the accounting entry. Avoid treating a successful login as proof that an international payment, payroll file or high-value supplier transfer will work.

Issue new banking instructions through the company's established customer and supplier processes. Provide a verified contact for recipients who need to check the change. Do not weaken their fraud controls by pressuring them to accept new account details immediately by email.

Keep a register of items still expected in the old account and the funds needed to cover them. Review fees, outstanding checks and debits already authorized. Determine the overlap period from those dependencies and the bank's terms, rather than selecting an arbitrary number of days and assuming everything will have moved by then.

For each recurring route, record requested change, acknowledgment and first successful activity in the new account. Some changes take effect after a processing cycle. Avoid activating a new bank instruction while leaving the old instruction scheduled for the same obligation. Distinguish payments scheduled by the company at its bank from debits initiated by a supplier. The second route usually requires coordination with the supplier's collection process as well as the bank.

Reconcile both accounts during the overlap. Match transfers between them and keep pending receipts visible by destination. A combined cash total can look correct even when the wrong account lacks funds for a scheduled debit.

Once the remaining activity is resolved, follow the old bank's formal closure process. Obtain confirmation, the final statement and evidence of the final balance transfer. Record any charges or residual interest separately. Remove obsolete payment templates and securely retire unused access devices or check stock as appropriate.

Retain old account identifiers in the historical register, marked closed. Customers or suppliers may later ask about transactions made before the move, and the accountant still needs the earlier statement history. Disconnecting an accounting feed should not remove the records needed to support completed periods.

Review the first full operating cycle after closure for rejected debits or receipts sent to the old details. Assign any exception to a named owner and update the relevant instruction source. The transition ends when the records, payment routes and closure evidence agree, not merely when the old balance reaches zero.