Agree the remaining work with an outsourced bookkeeper
- Reading time
- 3 minutes
- Last reviewed
On this page
Agree what the outsourced bookkeeper will still do, what they need from the business and where their engagement ends. A request to “finish the accounts” is too broad if invoices, payroll inputs and adviser questions remain unresolved.
Keep tax advice, accounting treatment and other specialist decisions with the appropriate qualified adviser. Do not assume a bookkeeper has accepted them because they handle routine records. This guide provides a meeting agenda, not an accounting procedure.
Start with work still waiting for information
Ask the bookkeeper to identify incomplete tasks and the missing business input for each. Match those questions with the person who can supply reliable evidence before they leave.
Use the supplier statement review for invoices, payments and credits that need operational explanation. Ask who will investigate a missing receipt or delivery discrepancy; entering a query in software does not give it an owner.
Use this final-engagement agenda
Discuss six subjects and record the accepted scope:
- Outstanding routine work: which specific entries, reconciliations or inputs are unfinished?
- Business evidence: who supplies missing documents, approved payroll information or explanations, and through which route?
- Adviser dependencies: which accountant or other qualified person needs to decide the unresolved treatment or obligation?
- Records access: what access and supporting evidence are needed to complete the agreed work?
- Later queries: which enquiries will the bookkeeper handle, under what agreed arrangement, and who receives the others?
- Completion evidence: what will show each agreed task is finished or explicitly handed over?
Keep proposed extra work separate from the existing engagement until it is accepted. Ask for the provider’s actual terms rather than assuming a continuing service is included.
Resolve a dependency before ending access
For a fictional example, the bookkeeper can reconcile a bank entry only after a manager identifies the supplier reference. If the manager’s involvement ends first, the outstanding task needs an accepted replacement owner and accessible evidence. Giving the bookkeeper another deadline will not create the missing explanation.
Use the software cancellation check before ending systems involved in the agreed work. Test an actual record request rather than relying on the statement that everything has been saved.
Confirm the handover in usable terms
Summarise the agreed tasks, dependencies and contact arrangements after the meeting. Record unresolved scope or fee questions without inventing an entitlement to further support. Keep authority to approve transactions separate from authority to prepare records.
The supplier completion record can show whether the bookkeeping relationship is ended, continuing for defined tasks or awaiting another decision.
Ask UK Auction Group for the agreed sale and accounting records required by the authorised finance contact. Tell the bookkeeper where those records will be available and who answers a sale-specific question. Do not assume physical clearance means the administrative work is finished.
Sources
This guide is general information and education only. Legal, tax, employment and safety decisions may need a qualified adviser who knows your situation. Read the disclaimer.