Switching accountants in Ireland can happen during the year. Agree the new service and fees, authorise the handover, transfer records and approve the relevant Revenue agent links. Confirm who handles each filing and payment while the firms overlap. Timing depends on records and deadlines; unfinished accounts, software changes and historic cleanup need their own scope and price.
The hassle of changing accountants can feel heavier than the hassle of staying.
So after the busy period. After the next return. Next year.
I wrote on LinkedIn about what actually happens when you move: you sign, approve the Revenue request and authorise the firms to speak. We review the incoming file, identify what needs attention and agree the work.
That is the process. The useful questions are what is moving, what is unfinished and who is responsible next.
When should a business change accountant in Ireland?
When the service no longer meets the business’s needs and a clear conversation has not produced a workable answer.
An annual compliance service can be a sensible purchase. It does not become ongoing financial support simply because your business has grown. If you now need monthly numbers, a cash forecast or help assessing a hire, check whether that work is in your engagement.
Missing from the scope and promised but not delivered are different problems.
Look at the decisions you have had to make without useful input. Did the answer arrive too late? Were tax payments a surprise? Can anyone explain the margin change? Are you repeatedly organising work you expected the firm to handle?
One awkward week does not define a relationship. Raise the recurring gaps with the existing firm. If they cannot provide the service you need, you can move without making it a personal dispute.
Our switching accountants service explains how Around Finance manages the move.
The mirror test: is your accountant keeping up?
Your business invests in people, systems and better ways to work. Ask whether the accounting relationship has developed alongside it:
- Are the records current and reconciled on an agreed timetable?
- Do reports explain what changed and help with the next decision?
- Are planning questions raised before you commit?
- Is there a clear person responsible for the work and your questions?
- Do the communication arrangements suit how you operate?
- Do you know what is included and what costs extra?
Ask a prospective firm how it will deliver those things. Our guide to choosing an accountant helps you test the answers.
What actually happens when you switch accountants?
1. Agree the work and the starting point
Tell the new firm what is missing, which systems you use and which deadlines are approaching. Share the current engagement and notice terms, the latest accounts and any outstanding returns or Revenue correspondence.
The proposal should identify each business or person covered, the recurring work, the start date, the fee and your responsibilities. Ask for separate treatment of unfinished work, cleanup and setup.
A company engagement does not automatically include the director’s personal tax return. Spell out both if you need both.
2. Authorise contact with the existing accountant
Your new firm makes professional enquiries and requests information with your authority. This is often called professional clearance. It is not permission for you to leave: Chartered Accountants Ireland explains that the outgoing firm cannot veto the appointment.
Confirm the termination arrangements in writing. The two firms can handle the technical conversation; you need to authorise it and answer questions only you can answer.
3. Transfer the records and check them
A request for “the file” is too vague. Ask the incoming firm to confirm which records it needs, the period covered and what is still missing.
This is a practical handover list, not a claim that every item exists or belongs to you.
| Area | What to request or confirm |
|---|---|
| Accounts and opening balances | Last approved accounts, a detailed trial balance, year-end adjustments and the ledgers supporting the closing figures. |
| Tax | Filed returns and computations, tax losses carried forward, fixed assets and capital allowances, balances due and relevant Revenue correspondence. |
| Bookkeeping and VAT | Latest reconciled books, bank reconciliations, customer and supplier balances, VAT returns and reconciliations, and unresolved queries. |
| Payroll | Current-year payroll records, submissions, employee details and the information needed to run the next payday correctly. |
| Company records, where applicable | Annual-return status, financial statements, statutory records held by the old firm, and any company-secretarial or registered-office arrangements. |
| Systems and unfinished work | Software access and subscription arrangements, usable exports, work in progress, open enquiries and the person handling each one. |
What does the old accountant have to hand over? Separate your records, the information needed for continuity and the accountant’s own internal papers.
For ACCA members, ACCA’s transfer guidance requires reasonable transfer information promptly and free of charge. It defines that minimum as the last client-approved accounts and a detailed trial balance agreeing to them. Client-owned records can create further obligations.
Do not assume that every internal review note or working paper transfers. Ownership can depend on the engagement, the work and why the document was created. ACCA’s ownership guidance makes those distinctions, but much of its legal analysis concerns England and Wales. An Irish ownership dispute needs advice on the particular documents.
At Around Finance, we review the information received and identify gaps. Receiving a folder is not enough. The new firm needs to establish that the closing figures provide a usable starting point and explain what still needs fixing. Agree that work and its cost separately from the monthly service.
4. Approve the Revenue agent link
Signing an engagement does not give the new accountant access to your tax records.
If you are registered for ROS or myAccount, your accountant submits the link request and you approve it. Revenue’s instructions set out these routes:
- In ROS, open Revenue Record, then the Agent-Link Approval document in your inbox.
- Review the requesting agent and tax details.
- Approve the correct request. You can also find pending requests under Other Services → Manage Agent Link Requests.
In myAccount, use MyEnquiries and the Revenue-initiated Agent-Client Link request, or Manage My Record → Manage Agent Link Requests.
Confirm every relevant tax type with the new firm, such as Corporation Tax, VAT and employer PAYE. Your personal Income Tax arrangements may be separate.
Revenue’s agent-link manual says pending requests expire after 30 days. An expired request must be submitted again. Clients without ROS or myAccount registration use a different consent process, which the accountant should arrange.
Allow up to three working days for the request to update fully in ROS, as set out in Revenue’s ROS registration guide. Ask the firm to confirm usable access before relying on it for a deadline.
For an existing tax registration, the accountant should use the appropriate Link Only route. Changing accountant is not, by itself, a reason to create a duplicate tax registration.
Revenue says never to give an agent your personal ROS or myAccount login details. The accountant uses their own credentials.
5. Confirm who handles every live deadline
Write down the work, period, filing and payment dates, responsible firm and required approval. Include the next payroll, VAT return, accounts, tax returns, preliminary tax and any live queries that apply.
For a limited company, add the CRO annual return. If the old firm also provides your registered office or company secretary, agree the replacement arrangements and any required company updates. A Revenue agent link does not allocate CRO work. Confirm who monitors any filing already submitted: CRO gives a 14-day correction window for annual returns sent back.
You should be able to ask “who is doing the next return?” and get one clear answer.
Can two accountants work at the same time?
Yes. The old firm can finish specified year-end work while the new firm takes over ongoing bookkeeping, VAT and payroll. That is one of the points I made in my LinkedIn post: you do not have to wait for everything to finish before the new relationship starts.
Illustrative example, not a client case: a company wants the new firm to take over its monthly work from 1 November. The old firm is still completing the previous year’s accounts.
| Work | Agreed split |
|---|---|
| Previous year’s accounts and tax return | Old firm completes the named period for an agreed fee and provides the final adjustments. |
| Bookkeeping from 1 November | New firm takes over, with a clear cutoff and access to the supporting records. |
| Next payroll and VAT return | Name the firm responsible for each. A VAT period crossing the cutoff still needs one agreed preparer and filer. |
| Opening balances | New firm checks the starting figures and incorporates final year-end adjustments when received. |
| CRO annual return and personal tax | Allocate separately where relevant; neither follows automatically from “taking over the accounts”. |
The firms need enough access to finish their agreed work. Before removing old permissions, confirm the remaining tasks and what the incoming firm can actually access.
Then review and remove access no longer needed. Revenue’s manual gives the ROS route as My Services → Manage Tax Registrations → Remove Agent Link. Removing an agent link and ceasing a tax registration are different actions.
How long does switching accountants take?
For a straightforward move, Around Finance’s switching process describes a handover often taking two to four weeks once the move is agreed. That depends on timely records, approvals and cooperation. It is not a promise that historic issues or unfinished accounts will be resolved in that window.
Agree three milestones:
- Handover: the records and access needed for the next work are in place.
- Cleanup: identified gaps and historic errors are addressed under an agreed scope.
- First reporting date: the first dependable report is ready for discussion.
These can be different dates. Ask which records must arrive before each one can be met.
You usually do not need to wait for year-end. If a filing is due in days, a Revenue intervention is underway or a transaction is being completed, assess that work before choosing the transfer date. A planned overlap may be safer than an abrupt stop.
Our follow-ups through the first 90 days help check that the new routine is working after the initial transfer.
What does switching accountants cost?
There is no useful single price without knowing what remains to be done. Ask for the cost of the transition separately from the ongoing monthly fee.
| Possible cost | What to get in writing |
|---|---|
| Old firm’s final account | Work completed, work still to be delivered, payments already made and any contractual notice charge. |
| Transfer information | What is being provided and the basis of any proposed charge. ACCA’s free minimum transfer requirement is explained above. |
| Unfinished accounts or returns | Which firm will finish each period and its fee. |
| Cleanup | The specific gaps, proposed work, price or pricing basis, and approval before proceeding. |
| Setup or migration | Whether required, what it covers and whether it is included in the proposal. |
| Ongoing service | Start date, monthly scope, software costs, VAT on fees and items requiring a separate quote. |
Around Finance works on a fixed monthly fee. That will not always line up with your existing billing arrangement, so we set out where one stops and the other starts.
Suppose the old firm will finish last year’s accounts while the new firm starts this month’s books. Two invoices may be paying for different jobs. Equally, monthly payments already made might have funded annual work that remains unfinished. Ask for a reconciliation of payments against agreed work.
Do not assume a refund, a free migration or that the new monthly fee includes every outstanding year. Agree it.
Our accounting fees guide helps compare scopes. Read current pricing alongside your specific proposal.
What if the old accountant will not release the records?
Ask which documents are being withheld and why. Keep the fee dispute, the record request and the approaching deadlines clearly documented.
Chartered Accountants Ireland’s Irish guidance says an outgoing accountant must cooperate to protect the client’s interests. For a company, documents constituting its accounting records must be returned to the directors; unpaid fees do not remove that obligation. A right to retain certain documents, called a lien, is limited and does not justify withholding everything.
Sole traders should not assume the same company-law protection applies. Where ownership or a claimed lien is disputed, ask the incoming firm to help identify what is needed urgently and seek appropriate professional or legal advice.
Pay agreed amounts due and pursue any disputed balance through the appropriate process. Tell the new firm about an imminent deadline immediately, rather than waiting for the dispute to end.
Should you change software at the same time?
Review the existing setup first. Changing accountant and changing accounting software are separate decisions.
Confirm who controls the subscription, who pays it and what access the business retains. Agree transfers and take usable copies of relevant records before any cancellation. A login that works today does not establish what happens when the old firm’s subscription ends.
If migration is necessary, agree the records, opening balances, reconciliations and training involved. Include payroll and VAT continuity in that plan.
Software should help deliver the service. It should not become another unexplained project for your team.
How do you know the handover is complete?
Ask the incoming firm to confirm these five points in one written handover summary:
- Records: the required pack has arrived, opening figures have been checked and any missing items are listed.
- Access: the correct Revenue links work and the relevant software permissions have been tested.
- Deadlines: each live filing and payment has a named responsible person and firm.
- Fees: unfinished work, cleanup and recurring charges have been agreed.
- Next step: you know what information to supply, who to contact and when the first reporting conversation happens.
That final point matters. If nobody explained the numbers before, make the new expectation explicit. Agree the frequency of management reporting and the decisions it should support.
If you run an Irish business turning over €250,000 or more and want to discuss the gaps in your current support, See if we’re a fit. We will look at the work you need and what an orderly move would involve.
FAQs
Can I change accountants during the year?
Yes. Agree the cutoff, access and responsibility for unfinished work. The old firm can finish specified year-end tasks while the new firm takes over the ongoing service.
Do I need my accountant’s permission to leave?
No. Check your engagement and notice terms, and authorise professional enquiries. The outgoing accountant does not approve your choice of replacement.
What if my records are behind?
Tell the new firm before agreeing the start date and price. It needs to assess the gaps and explain the cleanup work and its effect on the first reporting date.
Does switching accountants change my tax deadlines?
Plan around the existing deadlines. Do not assume a change of adviser gives you more time. Confirm who prepares, approves, files and arranges payment for each obligation during the move.
Will I pay twice for the same accounts?
A written split of the work helps prevent that. Reconcile fees already paid with what has been completed and what remains outstanding before agreeing who finishes it.
