Who it's for: anyone in a SaaS or tech finance team who is leaving, going on long leave or changing roles, and wants the person after them to close the month without ringing them.
What you'll get: a section-by-section handover template, a two-week timetable, a worked example for one month-end task, where AI can help, and a ready-made handover email.
Reading time: about 11 minutes. Start it the day you hand your notice in, not the day before you go.
Why a good handover matters
A finance role is mostly made of things that happen once a month, once a quarter or once a year. Nobody remembers the once-a-year ones. If they only live in your head, they leave with you, and the first sign is usually a missed accrual or a VAT return nobody knew was due.
A good handover protects the close, protects your old team and protects your reputation. People remember how you left long after they forget your best reconciliation.
Key terms
- Handover document: one written record of what you do, how, when and where the evidence lives.
- Process note (or desk procedure): step-by-step instructions for one task, detailed enough for someone new to follow.
- Recurring journal: a journal posted every period, such as a prepayment release or depreciation.
- Working papers: the spreadsheets, reports and evidence that support a balance or a journal.
- Shadowing: your successor watches you do a task, then does it while you watch.
What goes in the handover document
Keep it in one place, in a shared drive your manager can reach, not in your personal folder or inbox. Use the sections below as headings.
| Section | What to include | What "done" looks like | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☐ | 1. Role summary | Your main responsibilities in five to ten bullets, and who you report to | A new joiner understands the job in two minutes |
| ☐ | 2. Task calendar | Every task by frequency: daily, weekly, month-end (with working day), quarterly, annual | Nothing that happens once a year is missing |
| ☐ | 3. Process notes | Step-by-step notes for each month-end task, with screenshots where useful | Someone who has never done it can follow it |
| ☐ | 4. Recurring journals | A list of each journal, the accounts, the amount or method, and when it stops | Every recurring journal has an end date or a review date |
| ☐ | 5. Reconciliations | Which balance sheet accounts you own, where the reconciliation lives, current reconciling items | Every open item has an explanation and an owner |
| ☐ | 6. Systems and access | Systems you use (for example Xero, NetSuite, Stripe, Chargebee, Pleo), your access level, who grants access | Access requests for your successor raised before you leave |
| ☐ | 7. Key contacts | Budget holders, suppliers, the auditors, payroll provider, bank contacts, and what you usually ask each one | Your successor knows who to chase for what |
| ☐ | 8. Open issues | Anything unresolved: disputes, queries from auditors or HMRC, half-finished projects | Each item has a status, a next step and a new owner |
| ☐ | 9. Deadlines in the next three months | VAT returns, payroll year-end tasks, audit dates, board pack dates, Companies House filings | Dates in the team calendar, not just in the document |
| ☐ | 10. Known quirks | The things that always go wrong and how you fix them | The "oh, that always happens" knowledge is written down |
AI shortcut: export your calendar for the last 12 months (titles only, nothing confidential) and ask an approved AI assistant to group the recurring meetings and reminders by frequency. It gives you a first draft of section 2, including the annual tasks you would forget. Check every line before it goes in the document.
A two-week handover timetable
Most notice periods give you more than two weeks, but the handover usually gets squeezed into the last ten days. This timetable assumes your successor (or the person covering) is available for at least the second week.
| When | Task | What "done" looks like | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☐ | Day 1 | Agree with your manager who takes each task, and the date of your last month-end | A named owner for every task, even if temporary |
| ☐ | Days 1 to 3 | Draft sections 1, 2 and 7 (role, task calendar, contacts) | Your manager has reviewed the task calendar |
| ☐ | Days 3 to 6 | Write process notes for the month-end tasks, starting with the riskiest | Each note tested by reading it alongside the actual file |
| ☐ | Days 5 to 7 | Tidy reconciliations and clear or explain old reconciling items | No unexplained items older than one month |
| ☐ | Days 6 to 8 | Shadowing: your successor watches, then does, each key task | They have done each month-end task once with you watching |
| ☐ | Day 8 | Raise system access requests and remove yourself as sole approver anywhere | No approval workflow depends on you |
| ☐ | Day 9 | Walk through open issues and deadlines with your manager and successor | Every open item has a new owner who has said yes |
| ☐ | Day 10 | Send the handover email and file the final document | Document stored in the team drive; link sent to manager and successor |
If there is no successor yet, the same steps apply. Hand over to your manager and write the process notes in more detail, because the reader may be a contractor who starts after you have gone.
How to write a process note someone can actually follow
- Say what the task is for. One line: "This releases annual software costs paid in advance into the right months."
- Say when it happens. The working day, and what has to be finished first.
- List the inputs. Which reports, which files, where they live.
- Number the steps. One action per step. Include menu paths for the system ("Accounting > Manual journals > New").
- Show the check. How you know it worked: the balance it should agree to.
- Note the quirks. What goes wrong and what you do about it.
- Add the reviewer. Who approves it, and what they look at.
AI shortcut: record yourself talking through a task while you do it (or type rough notes as you go), then give the transcript to an approved AI assistant and ask it to turn it into numbered steps with inputs, checks and quirks as headings. Remove any customer names, salaries or bank details before you share it, and read the result against the real file.
Worked example: handing over the prepayments schedule
At MonthEndClub Co Ltd, a fictional UK SaaS company, the leaving management accountant owns the prepayments schedule. Here is how one item is written up in section 4 of the handover.
The item: an annual licence for a data analytics tool, invoiced in July for £14,400 (excluding VAT), covering 1 August to 31 July. The monthly release is £14,400 ÷ 12 = £1,200.
Monthly recurring journal:
| Account | Dr | Cr |
|---|---|---|
| Software subscriptions (admin expenses) | £1,200 | |
| Prepayments | £1,200 |
Where it stands at handover (31 October):
| Prepayment: analytics licence | £ |
|---|---|
| Paid in July for August to July | 14,400 |
| Less: released August, September, October (3 × 1,200) | (3,600) |
| Balance at 31 October (9 months left) | 10,800 |
Check: 9 × £1,200 = £10,800, which agrees.
The handover line reads: "Analytics licence. £1,200 a month to software subscriptions. Recurring journal set up in the ledger, ends July. Balance should be £10,800 at 31 October and fall by £1,200 a month. Renewal notice usually arrives in May; the budget holder is the Head of Data. If they renew at a different price, set up a new schedule line from August, don't edit this one."
That last sentence is the part that usually gets lost. The numbers are on the schedule; the judgement is in your head until you write it down.
Common mistakes and audit watch-outs
- Writing it in the last two days. By then there's no time for your successor to try the tasks and ask questions.
- Leaving yourself as the only approver. Bank payments, journals or expense approvals can stall the week after you go.
- Recurring journals with no end date. A prepayment that keeps releasing after it reaches zero turns into a credit balance nobody can explain.
- Old reconciling items left unexplained. Your successor inherits them with no history. Auditors will ask about them.
- Files in personal folders. If your laptop and account are switched off on your last day, so are your working papers.
- Forgetting the annual tasks. Year-end payroll reporting, the audit timetable, insurance renewals and R&D claims all come round once a year.
- Pasting confidential data into AI tools. Payroll, customer and bank data only goes into tools your company has approved. Every AI-drafted note is checked against the real process by a person.
Tools that can help
Most teams already have what they need: a shared drive or wiki (Google Sheets or Excel for the task calendar), the ledger's own recurring journal and audit trail reports, and a screen recorder for walkthroughs. An approved AI assistant helps turn rough notes and recordings into tidy process notes. None of these replace sitting down with your successor and watching them do the task.
Ready-made handover email
Send this on your last full day, to your manager and your successor. Edit the bits in brackets.
Subject: Handover: [your role], [month] month-end onwards
Hi [manager] and [successor],
The handover document is now complete and saved here: [link to team drive].
In short:
- All month-end tasks have process notes, and [successor] has done each one with me at least once.
- All reconciliations are up to date to [date]. Open items are listed in section 5, each with an owner.
- Open issues and the next three months of deadlines are in sections 8 and 9. The most urgent is [item, date].
- Access requests for [systems] have been raised. I've been removed as sole approver on [workflows].
Anything I'd flag: [one or two things that are most likely to go wrong].
Thanks for a great [time period]. It's been a pleasure closing the books with you.
[Your name]
Key takeaways
- Start the handover early; the document is the easy part, the shadowing takes time.
- List every task by frequency, including the once-a-year ones.
- Write process notes for someone who has never done the task, with the check that proves it worked.
- Give every recurring journal an end date and every open item an owner.
- Use approved AI to turn rough notes into tidy drafts, then check them against the real process.
FAQs
How long should a finance handover document be?
Long enough that someone can do the job from it. For a typical month-end role that's often 10 to 20 pages including process notes. The task calendar and open issues list matter more than the length.
What if my replacement hasn't been hired yet?
Hand over to your manager, and write the process notes in more detail. A common approach is to record short screen walkthroughs of each month-end task so a contractor or new hire can watch them later.
Can AI write my handover for me?
It can draft a lot of it: turning notes or transcripts into numbered steps, grouping your calendar into a task list and tidying the format. It can't know the quirks and judgement calls, and it can get steps wrong. You check every line, and only use tools your company has approved for financial data.
Should I include my passwords?
No. Never put passwords in a handover. List the systems and who grants access, and raise access requests for your successor through the normal route.
What do I do about tasks I'm halfway through?
Either finish them before you go or list them in open issues with what's done, what's left and the next step. Agree a new owner with your manager rather than assuming someone will pick it up.
Related guides
- How to Build a Month-End Close Calendar (Day -3 to Day +5)
- Keeping Audit-Ready Working Papers Every Month
- Managing Prepaid Software Subscriptions
- Leaving Gifts for a Finance Colleague
More in Careers guides.
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This guide is general information about common practice. It isn't tailored to any business, and standards, tax rules and figures change. Check your own circumstances, the latest rules and, where needed, a qualified professional before acting.
Last reviewed: October 2026.