Changing your bookkeeper or accountant: the signs and the handover
Updated 16 October 2026
Owners tend to keep a bookkeeper or accountant for years after the fit has gone. A change looks like work, and the books seem the same whoever keeps them. The person who keeps the books decides when the figures arrive, whether they are right and what the owner hears about them. This article lists seven signs of a mismatch, the cases where a change is premature, and the steps for a clean handover. The worked examples use round figures, and the figures are an illustration.
Seven signs
One: questions get jargon, a long wait or no reply. Two: the monthly figures arrive halfway through the next month, or only at tax time. Three: the provider files what is required and never raises a risk or an opportunity before a deadline. Four: the company has grown past what the provider can handle, with more entities, payroll in more states or a loan to support. Five: surprises keep coming, such as an unexpected tax bill, a missed deadline or a reconciliation that does not balance. Six: the owner checks the provider's work or decides by instinct because the figures are in doubt. Seven: one person does everything, with no backup and nobody reviewing the work.
The figures are an illustration. Over a year, an owner notes that statements arrived after the 20th in 9 of 12 months. Two emails about a tax notice went unanswered for three weeks. A bank account went unreconciled for four months. That is three of the seven signs, from a simple log kept for one year.
Late figures cost decisions
A monthly report is only useful while the month it describes is still recent. When the figures for March arrive on 18 April, the owner has already made April's decisions without them. Each late month adds to the decisions made on old information.
The figures are an illustration. Statements arrive on the 18th of each following month. By then, 60% of a 30-day month has passed. An owner who sets prices, staffing and purchases each month makes all of them before seeing the prior month's results. A close on the 10th would put the figures in hand with two-thirds of the month still ahead.
Outgrowing a provider is a capability question
Scott Engler, Corporate Advisor at Averan Advisors, treats this sign differently from the rest. A provider who suited a $1 million company may lack the capacity or skills for a $10 million company. That reflects a mismatch in capability. Treating it as a complaint makes the conversation harder and often delays a change both sides can see coming. In his view, the larger cost of waiting comes from decisions made on figures that were accurate and still did not answer the questions the larger company now asks.
The figures are an illustration. A company had one entity and 5 employees when it hired its bookkeeper. Five years later it has three entities, 40 employees in two states and a bank loan with quarterly reports. The bookkeeper keeps each entity's books accurately and has never prepared a consolidated statement or a loan report. The company now needs controller work.
When to stay
Some problems do not call for a change. A single mistake that the provider owned and fixed is one. A delay during a known busy season is another. A fee increase that still matches the work is a third. A direct conversation about dates and expectations often solves these. A change has its own costs: the transition, moving the history and the time a new provider needs to learn the business. Change providers for a pattern that repeats, and talk through a one-off problem first.
The figures are an illustration. Statements arrived on the 10th in 11 of 12 months and on the 24th in April, during the provider's tax season. The owner asks for an earlier start in future Aprils. The provider agrees, and the owner keeps the provider.
How to switch
Choose the new provider before ending the old engagement, so the books are never without a keeper. Collect the accounting file, prior tax returns, payroll records and logins to every financial system. Plan the move for just after a quarter-end or year-end close, which gives the new provider a clean starting date. A capable firm can also take over partway through a period.
The figures are an illustration. The owner signs with the new firm on 1 June. The old provider closes June by 10 July and hands over the file, the last two tax returns, payroll reports and logins by 15 July. The new firm closes July on the date in its scope, and the old engagement ends.
Expect a review of the books at handover
A new provider reviews the existing books before taking them forward. The review checks reconciliations, open balances and the chart of accounts. Fixing what it finds gives the new provider a correct starting point. A review at handover is standard practice and says nothing about the owner.
The figures are an illustration. The new firm's review finds two card accounts last reconciled in March and $6,300 sitting in an uncategorized account. It reconciles both card accounts through June and posts the $6,300 to the right expense lines. The July close starts from balances that match the bank and card statements.
What this means for an owner
Seven signs point to a mismatch, and two or three together point to a change. One-off problems call for a conversation first. A change goes to plan with the new provider signed before the old one leaves, the records collected, and the start set just after a close. The new provider reviews the books at handover and corrects what it finds. The owner's data moves with the owner.
Moving the books to Averan
Averan Advisors takes over books after a review of the file and closes the first month on a written date. See bookkeeping and monthly close for the monthly work, and controller for companies that have outgrown a single bookkeeper.
The monthly close page explains what closing the books on a set date each month involves.
If you want this done for you
What happens next
Reading about it and having it done are different things. Here is exactly what happens if you want the second one.
- The call takes thirty minutesYou describe the business and where the numbers are letting you down. We give you an expert view of your situation, and what we would start with. There is no pitch deck.
- We look at the fileYou give us read access to the books as they are. We come back with what is wrong, what it will take to fix, and whether the answer is bookkeeping, controller work, or something else.
- We send a written scope and a priceIt lists what we do each month, what you get, the date it lands and the fee. We agree it before anything starts, and it does not change unless you agree.
- We take over the books and close the first monthWe set up access and systems and enter the opening balances. The first close lands on the date in the scope, and every one after it does too.