26 August 2026 · Process
How to Hand Over Your Accounts
The Federal Tax Authority's rules make the business responsible for accurate tax records even when bookkeeping is outsourced. Start with an access list, freeze the opening balances, reconcile the bank and control accounts, agree the monthly close date, and document who reviews VAT and Corporate Tax work. Finish with a signed exception list so missing records do not become silent assumptions.
Exiloz Management & Tax Consultant · Dubai-based FTA-focused advisory · VAT, corporate tax & accounting
A provider change begins with one written date
A provider change needs a written cut-off before anyone posts another transaction. Record the last date owned by the outgoing accountant, the first period owned by the incoming accountant, and the person who approves late documents. Attach that note to the engagement and first-close checklist. Without it, both providers can post one invoice or assume the other reconciled the same bank movement.
The Federal Tax Authority requires the business to keep records supporting its tax reporting, even when bookkeeping is outsourced. Its VATG001 guide describes a trail from source document to accounts and return, but it does not state how a private handover sequence must work. That boundary belongs in the contract. State who closes the old period, who opens the new one, and how crossing-period items are decided.
If you are changing providers this month, decide the cut-off before sending the first file. Ask the outgoing accountant for its closing trial balance and unresolved list. Ask the incoming accountant what it will accept as the opening position. The decision is not which firm sounds more confident. It is which signed document tells both firms where responsibility starts.
Transfer the sources that prove the ledger
Build an access inventory before the work moves. Name the accounting platform, bank statement source, payment gateway, invoice archive, payroll records, tax portal and spreadsheets used for reconciliations. Record the business administrator for each system. This catches the usual gap early: the accountant has an exported ledger but cannot open the bank or invoice source behind it.
Give the incoming provider only the access needed for its agreed work, and remove the outgoing provider's access after acceptance. Keep the business administrator in control. Record who may view, enter, approve and export data. Do not treat one shared password as a handover. The permission record matters because the person who can edit a ledger can also alter the evidence trail.
Test an export before the old access closes. Open the file, confirm the period, and match a sample entry with its source document. If a bank feed stops or a folder moves, the provider needs a named escalation contact. A process that transfers documents but leaves access problems with nobody responsible will fail at the first unusual transaction.
Prove the starting ledger before current work
The incoming accountant should compare the closing trial balance with the general ledger, bank statements, control accounts, and open receivable and payable schedules. The goal is not to rewrite every historical entry before work starts. It is to identify which balances can be accepted, which need evidence, and which need a separate correction or clean-up decision.
Keep the filed VAT return beside the reconciliation that produced it. The FTA VATG001 guide says the amount should be traceable from a source document through the accounts to the final return. For Corporate Tax, the FTA's record-keeping announcement identifies transaction, asset and liability records as supporting material. Those documents turn an opening review into a test rather than an assumption.
Worked example, for showing how an exception is recorded. The closing trial balance shows bank AED 72,000, while the bank statement supports AED 70,500. The unresolved amount is AED 72,000 - AED 70,500 = AED 1,500. Mark the bank statement, transfer reference or correction as the missing object. Do not let a clean-looking opening balance hide the AED 1,500 difference.
| Opening check | Document | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| Trial balance | Ledger export and closing report | Accept or investigate |
| Bank balance | Statement and reconciliation | Clear or record gap |
| Customer balances | Ageing and open items | Confirm owner |
| Tax position | Return and workings | Carry forward or correct |
| System access | Inventory and test export | Approve or escalate |
Use the first report to test the transfer
The first close is a test of the new routine. Confirm that documents arrive through the agreed channel, entries land in the correct period, bank and control accounts reconcile, and unusual movements reach the reviewer. Ask for the report in the format the owner will use. A report nobody reads does not prove that the handover works.
Review the exception register before the report is final. A small balance can still matter if it changes VAT coding, a related-party balance or a Corporate Tax working. Separate a missing invoice from a judgment needing approval. That distinction tells you whether the next action is retrieval, correction or a decision by the business owner.
We recommend setting the second close date during the first review, because a handover is a recurring control rather than a file-transfer event. Record the document cut-off, report date, reviewer, approval route and escalation contact. The routine should still work when one person is away. If it depends on memory, it is not yet a routine.
Finish with an exception list both sides accept
The transfer is ready to close when both sides can state what moved, what was tested and what remains open. Sign an exception list with the account, period, missing document, owner and next action. The signature confirms that the known boundary is understood. It does not certify that every historical balance is correct or that every correction is complete.
Keep a business-controlled copy of the ledger, source records, filed returns, reconciliations and working papers. The FTA VAT FAQ says VAT invoices are retained for at least five years. Article 56 of Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 requires relevant Corporate Tax records for seven years after the Tax Period. Provider storage is useful, but retrieval cannot depend on the provider remaining available.
The FTA sets tax-record obligations, not the private division of work between two accounting providers. That is why the engagement must say who closes, who reviews, who corrects, and who approves the opening position. Test one report after sign-off. If another person cannot reproduce it from the pack, responsibility moved but control did not. Keep the acceptance note with that first-close report so a later reviewer can see which items were inherited and which were posted after the transfer.
Frequently Asked Questions
For changing providers without losing control of the books.
What is the first step in an accounting handover?
The first step is to agree a cut-off date and capture the opening position. The Federal Tax Authority expects businesses to keep records that support their tax reporting, so export the ledger, trial balance, statements and open-item schedules before current processing moves to the new provider.
Should the outgoing accountant reconcile everything?
The engagement should state what the outgoing provider will finish and what remains open. Reconcile the balances that affect the handover, then record the rest as exceptions. The Federal Tax Authority does not assign private-provider responsibilities, so the contract and a signed exception list must make ownership clear.
How do I test the first month after a handover?
Compare the new close with the agreed opening balances, reconcile the bank and control accounts, review unusual movements and confirm that source documents can be retrieved. The Federal Tax Authority's record rules make traceability important, so a report without supporting records is not a complete test.
Can Exiloz manage an accounting transition?
Exiloz can map the cut-off, prepare the opening checklist, identify unresolved balances and document the first-close responsibilities. The business still approves the opening position and remains responsible for its records. The Federal Tax Authority is the authority for tax compliance, not for setting the commercial handover scope.
Changing Providers?
Exiloz sets the cut-off, opening checks and first-close responsibilities in a handover plan.