ACCA's definition of the information I must give a new accountant fits on two lines: the last approved accounts and a detailed trial balance (ACCA Code, Section B15, 2025). Anything of mine beyond that is discretionary and chargeable. When a client leaves me, I send a lot more, and the pack is free.
TL;DR: ACCA's minimum handover is two documents, free, even with fees unpaid. Much of what a successor needs belongs to the client anyway, and a lien over company records barely exists. I send the full pack because a file exists to serve the client. I stop short of doing the next accountant's work.
Leaving is a harder test than arriving, because the fee has gone and every commercial reason to be helpful went with it. Accountants who do the minimum here are making a bad trade.
What do the rules actually make me hand over?
Three layers. Those two documents, sent promptly and free, even where fees are unpaid. Anything belonging to the client, which has to move promptly whether or not anyone asks. And my own working papers, which I can keep or bill for.
That middle layer is big. On compliance work the entire tax file will often count as the client's, and a fixed asset schedule is often the client's only register (ACCA legal ownership factsheet, 2025). So part of what gets called generosity is just returning property.
Can an accountant hold your records over an unpaid bill?
Sometimes, and for a company barely at all. A lien (the right to keep a client's documents until the bill for work on them is paid) needs four conditions met, including that the fee relates to those very documents. Under English law it can't touch company accounting records, which include invoices and bank statements. ACCA's factsheet suggests it has "little practical value" against companies.
Sole traders are the main exception, though ICAEW says a lien exists to prompt slow payers, not to pressure someone disputing the fee (ICAEW helpsheet, 2025).
The client carries the cost of a hostage file. A company must keep records for at least six years and can be fined £3,000 for failing to (GOV.UK, 2026).
The pack I send
Everything the next person would otherwise reverse-engineer:
- The two required documents, plus workings behind the year-end journals
- The fixed asset register with real dates and rates
- The director's loan account history, since section 455 tax is 35.75% on loans from 6 April 2026 (HMRC manual, 2026)
- Capital allowances pools, and losses with their origin
- The VAT scheme in use, and payroll history with RTI references
- Which quarterly updates have gone, for MTD for Income Tax clients over £50,000 (GOV.UK, 2026)
- A plain-English note of the judgement calls behind the numbers
That last item never appears in a set of accounts and explains half of them. If the Xero or QuickBooks subscription sits with me, I move it across too, because a ledger only one party can open helps nobody.
I keep this as one checklist, filled during the year, so a leaver costs me little unbilled time. The worst arrival I've taken on came with one PDF of the last accounts, and that client paid me for hours of forensic work in year one.
Why give away what I could bill for?
Because of who's still at the table. In a one-off game, cooperation collapses in the last round, since nobody's left to reward it. Accountancy is a repeated game, where the same players keep meeting: the client has gone, but the accountant receiving my file hasn't, and they'll remember how it arrived.
ACCA also says a large proportion of the complaints it considers against members involve transfer information (ACCA factsheet, 2025). And running alone means nobody else answers that letter.
Where do I stop?
At records and information. I won't rebuild last year's figures in a new format, or answer questions that amount to a second engagement. That's new work, so it gets a quote, and I say so up front.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should my old accountant hand over when I switch?
The last approved accounts, a detailed trial balance and anything that belongs to you, such as your books and often your tax compliance file. Ask for the fixed asset register and director's loan history by name, and check this week that you can log in to your own software.
Do I have to pay my old accountant before they respond?
No. An ACCA accountant must provide the transfer information even with fees unpaid, and ICAEW says unpaid fees are no reason to ignore an enquiry (ICAEW helpsheet, 2025). You'll need to give permission for the two accountants to talk.
What is professional clearance and how long should it take?
It's the new accountant's written enquiry to the old one. The old accountant can't stop the appointment, but ACCA treats the exchange as more than courtesy. The only deadline is "promptly". If the reply stalls, ACCA expects a recorded letter giving a stated period, "say seven days", while ICAEW says under two weeks is unlikely to be reasonable (ICAEW helpsheet, 2023).
Leaving an accountant and not sure what you're owed? Get in touch. I'll go through what you've received and tell you what's missing.