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Owners put off changing bookkeepers for a simple reason: they are afraid of losing something in the move. The file, the history, the login nobody wrote down. The fear is reasonable and the fix is a short list. Done in the right order, a switch takes a few days and leaves you with better records than you started with.
Signs it is time
The books are always behind. You get a report, if you get one, months after the month ended. Questions take a week to answer or come back with jargon. The bank balance in the bookkeeping file does not match the bank. Tax time is a scramble every year. Or the simplest sign: you do not understand your own numbers and nobody is helping you understand them.
None of those mean the person is bad at bookkeeping. They mean the arrangement is not working for you, which is enough.
Pick the moment
The cleanest point to switch is right after a month closes, and the very cleanest is the start of a new year, once the prior year's books are finished and the return is filed. That way the old bookkeeper completes a whole period and the new one starts a whole period, and nobody argues about who owns a half-done month.
What you should not do is wait for April. A switch during tax season means the new bookkeeper is learning your business while preparing a return from someone else's records. If the timing is forced, it can be done, but plan for a short catch-up review first.
What to collect before you say anything
Gather these while the current arrangement is still friendly:
- Administrator access to your QuickBooks Online file, in your own name and email. The file should belong to the business, not to the bookkeeper. If the subscription is in their name, ask to transfer it.
- Copies of the last two or three years of business and personal tax returns.
- Online access or downloaded statements for every bank account, credit card and loan.
- Payroll records if you have employees: the payroll provider login, the latest filings, and each employee's forms.
- The chart of accounts and any notes on how things are categorized.
- A list of open customer invoices and unpaid bills as of the last closed month.
- Logins or account numbers for state accounts: sales tax, withholding, unemployment insurance.
If you cannot get one of these, write down which one. The new bookkeeper will know what to do about it.
How the handover goes
A good new bookkeeper starts with a review, not with data entry. They look at the last closed month, check whether the bank and card accounts are reconciled, and compare the bookkeeping balances to the statements. From that they tell you one of three things: the books are clean and they can start next month; a few things need fixing first; or the records need rebuilding for a period, which is a separate catch-up job with its own price.
Then agree on what the old bookkeeper finishes. Usually that is the current month and any filings already in progress. Put the date in writing: "you handle everything through October 31, the new firm starts November 1."
Leaving professionally
Tell the old bookkeeper in writing, thank them, and ask for a final handover: the last reconciliation, any working papers, and confirmation that you hold the logins. Most will cooperate; the relationship ending well matters if a question about an old year comes up later. If someone refuses to return your file or your access, the file still belongs to you, and the bank statements can rebuild anything that is withheld.
What it costs
Ask the new firm whether the initial review is part of the monthly price or a separate fee, and what a catch-up period would cost if one is needed. At Choice the review is how we write your proposal, and catch-up bookkeeping is priced from $200 only when prior months actually need rebuilding. Monthly bookkeeping then starts at $200 a month by annual sales, with the whole handover done remotely, in English or Spanish. The contact page is where it starts.
Questions about this topic
Will I lose my QuickBooks history when I switch?
Not if the file belongs to you. The new bookkeeper is added as an accountant user on the same file and the old one is removed; every past transaction stays.
Can the new bookkeeper fix mistakes from the old one?
Yes. The initial review finds them, and either small corrections are made in the current period or a catch-up job rebuilds the affected months.
Do I need to switch tax preparers at the same time?
Not necessarily, but it is simpler when the same firm keeps the books and prepares the return, because the return then starts from records they already trust.
Written by the team at Choice Business Advisors, a bookkeeping, tax, and advisory firm based in Utah serving small businesses across the United States in English and Spanish.