Client Offboarding Checklist Pack
Three documents and three sheets that track every access grant a departed client's file leaves open, not just the letter and the invoice.
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Access Revocation Log
Client Offboarding Pack
Marrowgate Millwork. Offboarded 2024-03-15. Audited 2026-09-01.
| System | Status | Days |
|---|---|---|
| QuickBooks Online | Revoked | 5 |
| IRS Form 2848 | OPEN | 900 |
| Bank Feed | OPEN | 900 |
The firm's own system closed in five days. The two systems it never has to open to keep working are still open 900 days later.
Every offboarding checklist on page one covers the same three moves: send the disengagement letter, collect the final invoice, and return the client's records. All three close on their own within days of the paperwork clearing. None asks what else the engagement granted and never took back: a QuickBooks Online login, an IRS Form 2848 authorization, a read-only bank feed connection. A client onboarding and books diagnostic counts what a new client's file contains before quoting it. This pack counts what a departing client's file still leaves open after the invoice is closed.
Kettridge & Sable ran that count against nine of its own closed files. Every one had its QuickBooks Online access removed within ten days, its own system and a reflex to close. Six of the nine still carry an open IRS authorization, averaging 809 days, 2.2 years, past the file's close date, the oldest run 1,198 days, 3.3 years. Seven of the nine still have an open bank feed or payroll admin grant. Across eighteen external grants checked, thirteen, 72.2 percent, were still open, and only two files were actually clean.
An access grant does not close on its own. Waiting on the IRS is not a plan: an authorization purges automatically only seven years after the taxpayer's signature date. Marrowgate Millwork's, open 900 days, still has roughly four and a half years left to run. The Access Revocation Log tracks every grant to a confirmed removal, never a request. The Retention Schedule runs a separate clock for how long the firm keeps its own copies of records; a closed access row and a record inside its retention window are not the same fact.
What's in the pack
Offboarding Letter
What is finished and what is not, the final invoice, and a plain statement that every access grant is tracked to a confirmed close, not promised by this letter alone.
Records Transfer Note
Split by ownership: client-provided records go back regardless of the invoice; firm-prepared items are made available on their own timeline, each with a confirmed receipt.
Final Engagement Memo
The firm's own internal record of why the relationship ended, what it would repeat, and the one rule that decides whether the file is actually allowed to close.
Transfer Checklist
Every client rolled into one sheet: letter sent, records transferred, invoice paid, access log clean, and whether the file is actually ready to archive.
Access Revocation Log
Every QuickBooks, IRS authorization and bank or payroll grant, tracked from the offboarding date to a confirmed revocation or flagged OPEN until one exists.
Retention Schedule
How long the firm keeps its own copies of records, on a separate clock from the access log, so nobody confuses a retention window with a revocation.
How to use it
- 1
Open in River, or download it
Take the blank Word and CSV files now, no account required, or open this pack in River and have the agent build the inventory from the engagement record.
- 2
List every access grant the engagement created
Not a generic checklist. Ask what this specific engagement actually touched, from the portal login to the IRS authorization, before assuming a typical list.
- 3
Track each one to a confirmed revocation
Log every removal request, then confirm it through the system's own record, an admin panel export or a refused login, never an email reply alone.
- 4
Close the file only when the log is clean
Apply the rule this pack runs on: no file archives while a single row on its Access Revocation Log reads anything other than Revoked.
Frequently asked questions
Is this template free?
Yes. Download the whole pack as Word documents and CSV sheets with no signup and no credit card. Edit with AI is a separate, optional path for firms that want the agent to build the access inventory and track it from a real engagement record. The template library holds the rest of the packs.
What format are the downloaded files?
Word documents (.docx) for the three narrative documents and CSV (.csv) for the three sheets, zipped into one file. They open natively in Word, Pages, Google Docs, Excel, Numbers and Sheets, with nothing to convert before use.
How is this different from a client onboarding checklist?
An onboarding checklist and diagnostic scope a new engagement before quoting it. This pack runs the opposite end: closing an engagement that already existed, including the access it granted along the way, and tracking each grant to a confirmed removal rather than assuming a signed letter covered it.
Why does an old IRS authorization matter years after a client left?
Because it does not expire on its own. A practitioner authorization stays active until it is withdrawn, and the IRS's own guidance confirms it is otherwise purged only seven years from the taxpayer's signature date. That is why a firm's own periodic self-check catches authorizations nobody remembered to close.
How long should we keep copies of a former client's records?
There is no single mandated period. Journal of Accountancy's retention guide notes the period depends on service type and jurisdiction, and recommends firms pick the longest period that applies and use it uniformly rather than tracking each record type apart.
What does 'Edit with AI' actually do?
It creates a free River account and installs this exact pack as a private workspace. It opens ready to read the engagement letter you send it, along with whatever you know about the firm's access into that client's systems. From that, it builds the access inventory the same way the worked example does.
Who is this template for?
Accounting and bookkeeping firms ending a client relationship, whether the engagement was monthly write-up, a fractional CFO retainer, or a quarterly advisory review. Any of the three can end, and each one accumulates its own access along the way.
Close the file, not just the invoice
Download the blank pack as Word and CSV files, or open this exact pack in River and let the agent build your access inventory from the engagement record.
Edit with AI