Staff Offboarding Checklist

Loop in HR, the partner-in-charge of the staff member's largest engagements, and the practice coordinator. Voluntary, involuntary, and retirement departures take different paths — involuntary terminations typically mean same-day access revocation and a different timing for the non-solicit reminder.

Pin down the last working day in writing and confirm whether the staff member is using accrued PTO before the date. The last working day drives access cutoff and final-pay timing.

If the staff member is moving to a current attest client, AICPA independence rules and most state-board interpretations require a cooling-off review before they leave. Catch this early — the firm may need to reassess or disengage from the attest engagement.

Document the cooling-off period, confirm the staff member's role at the client, and assess whether continuing the attest engagement creates a familiarity threat under AICPA ET 1.279. Loop in the firm's quality-control partner and capture the conclusion in the engagement file.

Pull the engagement list from Karbon, Canopy, TaxDome, or Jetpack Workflow. Include in-process tax returns, open audits and reviews, monthly close engagements, and consulting work. Flag anything with a deadline inside the next 60 days.

For each open engagement, name the new partner-in-charge and the new manager or senior. Update the assignment in practice management so review notes route to the right person and budget realization tracks against the new owner.

If the staff member is a CPA or EA who has signed returns this season, their PTIN is on every return they prepared. Reassignment is required on any return not yet filed before their last working day.

In UltraTax, Lacerte, Drake, ProConnect, or ProSeries, reassign the preparer on every open return. Do not file under the departing preparer's PTIN after their last day — Circular 230 § 10.34 due-diligence obligations follow the signing preparer.

For each affected client, send a brief notice naming the new partner and manager and offering an introduction call. Keep it short — 'Effective [date], your engagement will transition to [name]' — and stay neutral about the reason for the change.

Sweep the staff member's local drives, OneDrive, and Dropbox for client workpapers. Move them into Caseware, SmartVault, ShareFile, or wherever the firm files engagements, under the correct client folder. Local copies must be deleted to satisfy IRS Pub 4557 and WISP requirements.

Confirm time entries are posted through the last working day and that every unbilled WIP balance has a billing decision — write up, write down, or write off. Open WIP at departure becomes the new manager's problem if it isn't closed first.

Walk every in-process return and engagement and clear or reassign review notes. Open review notes left dangling at handoff are the most common reason a return slips past its filing deadline after a staff change.

Disable logins in UltraTax, Lacerte, Drake, ProConnect, or ProSeries — whichever tax suite the firm uses. If the software is licensed per-seat, free the seat for the replacement preparer.

Remove the user from TaxDome, Karbon, Liscio, SmartVault, ShareFile, and Suralink. Audit shared client folders for lingering edit access — portal users are easy to miss because they're managed per-client rather than centrally.

If the staff member was authorized on the firm's IRS e-Services account or holds a CAF number tied to firm engagements, remove them through the responsible official's account. EFIN authorization stays with the firm, but individual user access must be cleaned up.

Disable Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, Slack, Teams, Zoom, and the firm's single-sign-on provider. Set an auto-reply on the mailbox directing senders to the new contact for at least 90 days, then forward to the practice coordinator.

Collect the laptop, monitor, dock, headset, hardware tokens (YubiKey, RSA), and any encrypted USB drives. Wipe the laptop before reissuing — client SSNs and tax returns may be cached locally in UltraTax or Lacerte.

Cut the final paycheck per state final-pay rules — California requires same-day pay on involuntary terminations; most states allow the next regular payday. Include accrued and unused PTO where firm policy or state law requires payout.

Send the COBRA election notice within 14 days of the qualifying event. Provide 401(k) rollover paperwork and HSA transfer instructions. Confirm the staff member knows how to download next January's W-2 from Gusto, ADP, Paychex, or Rippling.

Cover what worked, what didn't, and the reason for leaving. Capture specifics — 'partner review feedback was vague', 'tax-season hours were unsustainable' — not platitudes. Share themes with the managing partner quarterly so patterns surface across departures.

Walk the staff member through the confidentiality clause and any non-solicit or non-compete in their employment agreement. Have them sign an acknowledgment that they will not retain or use client data after departure.

Per IRS Pub 4557 and the firm's WISP, document the date and method of removing client data from the staff member's devices. File the attestation in the WISP folder; this is the artifact the IRS or state regulator will ask for in a data-security audit.