Switching accountant – how it works
Most businesses put off switching accountant because they assume it is complicated. In practice it is simpler than people expect, and we handle most of it. Greenleaf takes care of the whole handover: the notice to your current firm, the contact the law requires us to make with them, system access, retrieving your history, and a clean start with us.
When is it worth switching?
The reasons we hear most: an accountant who is slow to answer email, no advice beyond the bookkeeping, a price that has risen while the service has not, poor visibility in the accounting system, or a sense that the business has become too small or too large for the firm. If any of that sounds familiar, it probably is time.
How the process runs
1) A short conversation to map the business, and agreement on price and start date. 2) You give notice to your current accountant – we give you the template. 3) We contact your previous accountant, as section 5-1 of the Norwegian Accountants Act requires. 4) We get access to the accounting system and take over documents and history. 5) We take over day-to-day work from the agreed date. The whole switch usually takes two to four weeks.
Is there a best time of year?
Many assume you have to wait for the new year. You do not. A switch can happen at any time, though it is often practical to move at the start of a VAT period, or once the year-end close is finished. If it is urgent, we can take over at short notice.
What about work in progress and the year-end close?
We agree explicitly with your previous accountant who files the last VAT return or completes the year-end close. The usual practice is that whoever did the work for the period files it. We make sure nothing is dropped. Around the cut-off date it should be in writing who finishes the bookkeeping, runs payroll, files the employer's report, reconciles the VAT period and submits the return. Do not assume the outgoing firm will simply take care of it.
What has to be transferred?
The general ledger and trial balance, customer and supplier ledgers with open items, bank reconciliations, documentation of balance sheet items, the document archive, the fixed asset register, payroll data, VAT documentation, previous annual accounts and tax returns, and relevant agreements. If you are changing accounting system at the same time, a SAF-T file can carry the recorded data – but SAF-T is not a complete backup, and the document archive has to be secured separately.
Can the old accountant hold your records?
Not as a rule. Material you supplied yourself has to be returned when you ask for it, and cannot be held as security against an unpaid invoice. The same applies to material the accountant produced once that work has been paid for. For electronically recorded data, good accounting practice ties the duty to release it to payment for the bookkeeping itself. A fee dispute should therefore be handled separately from the material the business is entitled to get back. Note that you keep the legal duty to retain the records either way.
Authorisations, access and the register
A change of accountant touches more than the accounting system: Altinn authorisations and system access, online banking and payment authority, payroll and invoicing systems, bank integration, e-invoice receipt and any other integrations. Do not remove old access before checking that it will not stop a filing your previous accountant still has to make. Once the handover is finished, unnecessary authorisations should be withdrawn. If the business uses an external accountant, that is also recorded in the Register of Legal Entities, through a coordinated register notification. That is separate from the Altinn authorisations, and both should be checked.
Frequently asked questions
What does it cost to switch accountant?
The handover is agreed in the quote. If the accounts are up to date there is usually little extra work, and you pay the ordinary monthly price from the agreed start date. If there is a backlog, we scope and price the clean-up before you decide.
How much notice does an accounting agreement require?
There is no statutory notice period for accounting services – the term is in your own agreement. Three months' written notice is the common one and is the term in Regnskap Norge's standard delivery conditions, but other terms can be agreed. Read your own contract. We can start in parallel so the business keeps running through the notice period.
Can I switch part-way through a financial year?
Yes. We retrieve the history from your previous accountant or directly from the system, and carry on from there.
What if I am in dispute with my current accountant?
That is one of the most common situations. Section 5-1 of the Norwegian Accountants Act requires us to ask your previous accountant whether there is anything that suggests we should not take the assignment on. Under good accounting practice they should answer without undue delay, normally within 14 days. That does not give them a veto over your switch – the point is that we know the case before we take it over.
Do I have to give notice before we talk?
No. Talk to us first. We settle price and fit, and once you are comfortable, we help with the notice.
Ready to switch?
We make the process simple. Send us a message and we will take a short call about how the handover would look for you.
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