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Insights · 5 min read
What to inventory before changing bookkeepers
The cost of switching bookkeepers is almost never the fee. It is the context that leaves with the previous provider if you have not inventoried it first.
Before you talk to the new provider
The strongest position to start a migration from is a written inventory of what the current provider actually holds and controls. Doing this before the transition begins removes almost every avoidable delay.
The inventory
- Accounting software of record and the level of access retained by the client.
- Banking and processor connections, and whether they were established by the client or the provider.
- Payroll provider and administrator access.
- Open bills, open invoices, and any recurring transactions that live inside the provider's tooling.
- Documents held outside the accounting software (contracts, workpapers, prior-year support).
- The state of the last reviewed close and any known exceptions.
What this changes
With the inventory in hand, the migration becomes a defined transfer rather than a discovery process. The new provider can quote the actual scope; the client keeps continuity of the operating record.