--- title: How to Switch Bookkeepers Without Losing Your History description: The client-side handover checklist — what to demand from the outgoing provider, what to check before you sign with the new one, and when in the year to move. --- [Skip to content](https://blog.ursaconsultants.com/blog/how-to-switch-bookkeepers-without-losing-your-history#main-content) # How to Switch Bookkeepers Without Losing Your History ![Bruno the Bear](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/b76369ea60201be87a5829b088dc4ab3) Bruno the Bear October 21, 2026 **The short answer:** Before you leave, get admin ownership of the accounting file, a full export of the ledger, the last reconciled balance sheet, and the payroll and sales-tax filing history. If your books live inside your provider's own platform rather than in software you own, get that answer in writing before you sign with anyone new. ## Every checklist you'll find was written for the firm Search for a bookkeeping handover checklist and you'll get onboarding and offboarding templates built for accounting firms to run on clients. There is no widely published version written for the client. This is that. ## What to demand from the outgoing provider - **Admin ownership of the accounting file.** Not access. Ownership. If the subscription is in their name, transfer the billing to you. - **A full ledger export.** General ledger, trial balance, and a chart of accounts, covering every year they held the file. - **The last reconciled balance sheet, with a date.** This tells your next provider where the trustworthy part of history stops. - **Bank and card reconciliation reports for the last twelve months.** This is the single best evidence of whether the books were actually maintained. - **Payroll and sales-tax filing history.** Including anything filed but not yet paid. - **The list of open items.** Unentered bills, unapplied payments, anything sitting in a suspense or ask-my-accountant account. ## What to check before you sign with the next one Ask one question: whose software will my books live in? If the answer is a platform the provider built, ask what an export looks like on the day you leave. Ask for a sample. Providers that do this well won't mind. Providers that don't will change the subject. Bench's closure at the end of 2024 is the case study here. Customers who owned their file moved on quickly. Customers whose history lived inside the platform spent months reconstructing it. ## When in the year to move A clean break is easiest at year-end, once the prior year is closed and filed. If you can't wait, the next best window is May to September — far enough from the year-end close and far enough from tax season that both firms have the attention to do the handover properly. The worst time is mid-close. If you're four days from month-end, wait four days. ## Related reading For what to do in the first days after a departure, see *Lost Your Bookkeeper? The First 72 Hours*. To judge what you're being handed, see *What Clean Books Actually Look Like*. ## Want someone on the handover call with you? We do that. Reach us at [info@ursaconsultants.com](mailto:info@ursaconsultants.com). ## Share this post [mailto:https%3A%2F%2Fblog.ursaconsultants.com%2Fblog%2Fhow-to-switch-bookkeepers-without-losing-your-history](mailto:https%3A%2F%2Fblog.ursaconsultants.com%2Fblog%2Fhow-to-switch-bookkeepers-without-losing-your-history) ## Keep reading ### [What Clean Books Actually Look Like](https://blog.ursaconsultants.com/blog/what-clean-books-actually-look-like) ### [Bookkeeper, Controller, or CFO: What You Actually Need](https://blog.ursaconsultants.com/blog/bookkeeper-controller-or-cfo-what-you-actually-need) [![Ursa Consultants](https://blog.ursaconsultants.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Ursa%20Logo%20Lockup%2007-2023.png?width=1776&height=594&name=Ursa%20Logo%20Lockup%2007-2023.png "Ursa Consultants")](http://ursaconsultants.com) - Home - Products - Pricing - Blog - Company --- Privacy Policy · Legal · © 2026 Ursa Consultants. All rights reserved. ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Bruno the Bear", "url" : "https://blog.ursaconsultants.com/blog/author/bruno-the-bear" }, "dateModified" : "2026-10-21T03:47:51.956Z", "datePublished" : "2026-10-21T03:47:51.000Z", "headline" : "How to Switch Bookkeepers Without Losing Your History", "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://blog.ursaconsultants.com/blog/how-to-switch-bookkeepers-without-losing-your-history", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://blog.ursaconsultants.com/hubfs/Ursa%20Logo%20Lockup%2007-2023.png" }, "name" : "Ursa Consultants" } } ```