You have not heard from your accountant since the last filing deadline, your questions take a week to answer, and you suspect you are paying for a service nobody is delivering. Most people stay anyway, because they assume switching is disruptive, expensive or somehow disloyal. It is none of those. The process is standardised, it costs nothing, and it takes about three weeks.
What actually happens
You appoint the new firm. They write to your old one requesting professional clearance and your records. Your old accountant responds. That is the whole mechanism.
Professional clearance is a courtesy letter between firms in which the outgoing accountant confirms there is no professional reason the new firm should not act. Every UK professional body requires members to respond to it, and to hand over the information the incoming firm reasonably needs. You do not have to negotiate any of this yourself.
The one thing that can hold it up is money. A firm may exercise a lien over documents it produced while fees remain unpaid. Settle the account first and this disappears.
The seven steps
1. Read your engagement letter first
Before you speak to anyone, find the notice period. Most are 30 days, some are 90, and a few tie you to a full accounting period. You want to know this before you have an awkward conversation, not after.
Check also what happens to work in progress. If your year end is half prepared, establish whether you are paying for it. The same applies to any bookkeeping or payroll the firm runs alongside, because those have their own cycles and their own notice.
2. Choose the new firm properly
Do not pick in a hurry because you are annoyed. Get two or three quotes on the same six facts: turnover, monthly transaction volume, VAT status, headcount, software, and whether bookkeeping is included. Comparing what accountants actually charge on a like-for-like basis is the only way to know whether the new quote is better or just different.
Verify the qualification. "Accountant" is not a protected title, so check ICAEW, ACCA or AAT membership on the relevant register rather than taking a logo at face value. Every firm on our shortlist of the best accountants in Manchester holds at least one.
3. Confirm you own your software subscription
This is the step people skip and regret. If the Xero or QuickBooks subscription is in your accountant's name, your entire ledger lives inside their account.
Check the billing email on the subscription. If it is theirs, ask them to transfer the subscription to you before you give notice, which is a routine request and much easier while you are still a client.
4. Tell your old accountant
Short, professional, in writing. You do not owe an explanation, and giving one rarely improves the handover.
Something like: "We have decided to move our accounting to another firm with effect from [date]. [New firm] will be in touch shortly for professional clearance. Please confirm the notice period and any outstanding balance."
That is enough. Resist the urge to list grievances.
5. Let the new firm request clearance
They will write for professional clearance and for the handover pack, which should include the last set of accounts and tax computations, the trial balance and nominal ledger, fixed asset register, VAT records, payroll records including P11Ds, and any correspondence with HMRC.
Two to three weeks is normal. If nothing has happened after a month, chase, and if it is still stalled, your professional body can be asked to intervene.
6. Move your HMRC agent authorisations
Your old accountant holds agent authorisation to deal with HMRC on your behalf, covering corporation tax, VAT, PAYE and self assessment separately.
The new firm sets up their own authorisations, which you approve. Do not assume the old ones lapse automatically. Ask your previous accountant to remove their authorisation once the handover is complete, so nobody is left with access to your tax records who should not have it.
7. Check the first filing carefully
The first year-end after a switch is where mistakes surface, because the new firm is working from someone else's opening balances. Read the accounts properly rather than signing them, and query anything that looks different from last year. A good firm will already have flagged discrepancies they found.
Just after a year end has been filed. Opening balances are clean and agreed, the new firm starts with a complete picture, and nothing is half finished. The worst time is mid-way through a year end or immediately before a filing deadline, when you will pay two firms for one piece of work.
What your old accountant must hand over
Professional bodies require members to provide the information the successor firm reasonably needs. In practice that means:
- Last filed accounts and the tax computations behind them
- Trial balance and nominal ledger for the current period
- Fixed asset register with the depreciation policy
- VAT records and workings
- Payroll records, P11Ds and pension scheme details
- Correspondence with HMRC
What they may keep are their own working papers, which belong to them, not to you. That distinction is normal and is not obstruction.
They may also hold documents until unpaid fees are settled. That is a lien and it is legitimate.
What it costs
The switch itself is free. There is no fee for professional clearance, and no penalty for leaving beyond whatever notice your engagement letter requires.
Two costs occasionally appear. Some firms charge a modest amount for preparing handover information, which is contentious but not unheard of. And if your year end is partly complete, you may pay for the work done to date.
Neither should run to hundreds of pounds. If a firm quotes an exit fee that looks punitive, that in itself tells you something about why you are leaving.
When not to switch
If the only issue is price, get a quote from your existing firm first. Fees drift upward without review, and practices routinely reprice for a client who asks rather than lose them. It helps to know where the market actually sits before that conversation.
If the problem is that you never hear from them, say so before you leave. Some firms are genuinely reactive by design and will move to a more proactive footing if asked. Others will not, which is also an answer.
And if you are mid-way through an HMRC enquiry, finish it first if you can. The firm that filed the return knows the history, and changing horses during an enquiry costs money and time. The same logic applies if you are about to complete a sale or a funding round, where a specialist tax adviser is a better addition than a replacement accountant.
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Key takeaways
- Switching is standardised, costs nothing, and takes about three weeks.
- Read your engagement letter for the notice period before you do anything else.
- Confirm your accounting software subscription is in your name, not the practice's.
- The new firm handles professional clearance. You do not negotiate the handover yourself.
- Move HMRC agent authorisations deliberately and ask the old firm to remove theirs.
- Switch just after a year end is filed. Never mid-way through one.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need my old accountant's permission to leave?
No. Professional clearance is a courtesy letter between firms, not a consent process. Your accountant cannot refuse to let you go, though they may withhold documents until outstanding fees are paid, which is a legitimate lien rather than an obstruction.
How long does changing accountants take?
Two to three weeks in most cases, from appointing the new firm to having the records transferred. It takes longer if your old accountant is slow to respond or if fees are in dispute. Nothing in the process requires you to be without an accountant at any point.
What if my old accountant refuses to hand over records?
First check whether fees are outstanding, which is the usual cause. If the account is clear and they are still unresponsive after a month, the new firm can escalate to the relevant professional body. ICAEW and ACCA both take non-cooperation seriously, which is one practical benefit of using a qualified firm in the first place.
Will HMRC need to know?
Not directly, but agent authorisations do need to change. The new firm will set up their own authorisation for each tax, which you approve. Ask your previous accountant to remove theirs afterwards, so nobody retains access they should not have.
Can I switch in the middle of a tax year?
Yes, and it is common. The cleanest point is just after a year end has been filed, because opening balances are settled. Mid-year is workable but the new firm inherits partial records, which occasionally surfaces discrepancies that take time to resolve.
Should I tell them why I am leaving?
Only if you want to. A short, factual notice is enough and usually produces a smoother handover than a list of complaints. If the firm asks for feedback and you are willing to give it, do so after the handover is complete rather than before.
What about my payroll and pension scheme?
These transfer as part of the handover but need explicit attention, because they run on a monthly cycle that does not pause. Confirm which firm is running the next payroll before the changeover date, and make sure pension scheme access and auto-enrolment records move too. A missed submission is a real penalty.
Do I lose anything by switching?
Continuity of knowledge, which is the genuine cost. Your old accountant knows your history, the reasons behind past decisions, and where the awkward numbers came from. A good handover captures most of that in documents, but not all of it. That is the argument for switching once, deliberately, rather than repeatedly.
Is it worth switching to save £30 a month?
Rarely. The disruption and the loss of institutional knowledge outweigh a small saving, and fees tend to converge over time anyway. Switch for service, for proactivity, for a specialism you need, or for a fee gap large enough to be material. Then ask your existing firm to match it first.
What if I have not filed for years?
Say so up front. Firms deal with catch-up work regularly and would much rather know at the quoting stage than discover it in month two. Expect a separate catch-up fee, and expect the quote to reflect the real state of the records rather than the tidy version.
