Switching accountants is far more routine than most business owners fear. The professional bodies expect firms to cooperate with handovers, the new firm drives the process, and your involvement amounts to a few signatures and one short message to your current accountant. No justification is owed, no confrontation is needed, and your filings carry on around the change. This guide walks the whole path, from first decision to the day your new accountant takes over.

Start by reading what you already signed

Before approaching anyone, dig out your current engagement letter, the contract that defines your existing relationship. You are looking for three things: what services you are actually paying for (often less, or more, than you remember), any notice period or termination terms, and how fees are handled for work in progress. This ten-minute read prevents most switching disputes, because the common friction points (a final bill you did not expect, work half-done at handover) are usually answered in that document. If you cannot find it, ask the firm for a copy.

Choose and appoint the new firm properly

Selection deserves more care than the mechanics, since the mechanics are standard and the relationship is not. Compare candidates on responsiveness, sector familiarity, what the quoted fee includes, and who will actually handle your work day to day. Our companion piece, questions to ask before changing accountants, gives you a full interview list.

Appointment happens through a new engagement letter setting out scope, fees and responsibilities. Read it as carefully as you read the old one: it is the document your new relationship will be judged against. What follows signature is covered step by step in what happens after you accept an accountant’s quote?

Tell your current accountant, briefly

A short, civil message is all this takes: you are moving to a new adviser, please expect a clearance letter, and please confirm any outstanding matters and fees. Put it in writing so there is a record. You do not need to give reasons, and most firms respond professionally. Every practice has been on both ends of a handover. If the relationship has soured, keep the message even shorter; the process runs on procedure, not goodwill.

Professional clearance: the formal handshake

Your new accountant now writes to the outgoing firm asking two standard questions: whether there is any professional reason they should not act for you, and for the information needed to take over (typically prior accounts, tax computations and relevant working papers). Firms regulated by professional bodies are expected to respond to clearance requests and to hand over what is reasonably required. Bear in mind the distinction between your records, which belong to you, and the firm’s own working papers, which belong to them; a reasonable firm passes over everything the new adviser genuinely needs regardless.

Authority to act: switching the official channels

For the new firm to deal with HMRC on your behalf (for Self Assessment, VAT, PAYE or Corporation Tax as applicable), agent authorisation must be updated, usually by you approving a request or signing an authority form. Until this lands, HMRC still treats your old accountant as your agent, so it belongs early in the sequence, not as an afterthought. The same applies to your cloud accounting records: the subscription should sit in your name, with the new firm invited in and the old firm’s access removed once handover completes.

Outstanding work, records and the final bill

Three loose ends decide whether a switch feels clean:

  • Work in progress. Agree explicitly who finishes any half-done job, such as a return mid-preparation or accounts awaiting queries. Either firm can, but somebody must own it by name.
  • Your records. Confirm what has transferred and keep your own copies. The legal duty to retain records for the periods in current GOV.UK guidance stays with you through any number of accountant changes.
  • Fees. Settle what you legitimately owe the outgoing firm promptly. Unpaid bills are the single most common cause of slow handovers, and disputing a fee is separate from the clearance process and should not delay it.

Time it sensibly, but do not wait forever

The cleanest switching windows sit just after a filing has gone in (a completed year-end or a submitted return), so nothing is mid-flight. Mid-engagement switches are entirely possible; they just need clearer agreement about who finishes what. Do not let timing trap you, though: a full extra year with a firm that is not working costs more than an imperfect handover. For a realistic sense of the stages involved, see how long does it take to change accountants? And if you are still deciding whether to move at all, start with when should a small business change accountants?

Keeping filings safe through the change

Deadlines do not pause for handovers, so agree with the new firm who is watching the calendar from the day you sign. A competent accountant lists your upcoming obligations at engagement and confirms which they are taking. Your part is responsiveness: documents and authorisations turned around quickly keep the transition ahead of your next due date.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to tell my old accountant why I am leaving?

No. A brief notification is all that is required. Reasons are optional and most firms will not press for them.

Can my old accountant refuse to hand over my records?

Your own records must be returned to you. Firms may withhold their own working papers, and some hold documents while fees are unpaid, but professional bodies expect cooperation with reasonable requests.

Will switching accountants flag anything to HMRC?

Changing agents is an everyday administrative event. HMRC processes thousands of authorisation changes as a matter of routine.

Should my new accountant review my previous returns?

It is worth asking for. A fresh pair of eyes sometimes finds errors or unclaimed reliefs in earlier years, and correcting them early is easier than discovering them in an enquiry.

Can I switch while an HMRC enquiry is open?

Yes, though continuity matters more than usual. Brief the new firm fully and make sure authorisation is updated before correspondence deadlines fall due.

Make the move painless

We handle clearance, records transfer and authorisations for every new client, and we will review your recent filings as part of onboarding. See our small business accountancy service, or request a quote. Switching to us starts with one conversation, and we do the rest.