Switching Accountants Mid-Year: What to Ask For, What to Bring, and What Happens Next

Most business owners who want to change accountants wait for year-end. It feels tidier. The file closes, the return gets filed, and the new firm starts on a fresh year.

In practice, waiting usually means four or six more months of whatever made you want to leave: emails that go unanswered, books that are always a quarter behind, a GST/HST return filed in the last week. And year-end is the hardest moment to hand over a file, because the new accountant takes on the deadline and the backlog at the same time.

Switching mid-year is normal. What makes it go wrong is a handover where nobody wrote down what was being handed over, who was filing what, and from which date.

This guide sets out what to ask your current accountant for, what to bring to the new one, and what happens next, in order.

Quick answer: Can I switch accountants in the middle of the year? Yes. Nothing ties you to an accountant until year-end, and a mid-year switch is often easier than a year-end one because no annual filing deadline is running yet. Ask your current accountant, in writing, for your books and the documents you supplied: the accounting file or a full export of it, your last filed returns and financial statements, the schedules that carry forward into this year, and your GST/HST and payroll filing history. Make sure the admin login to your accounting software is in your name. Then authorize the new accountant on your CRA business account and remove the old one, which you can do online in My Business Account. Agree a handover date in writing, so every return before it belongs to one firm and every return after it belongs to the other, and nothing is filed twice or missed.

Why Mid-Year Is Often Better Than Year-End

• No annual deadline is running. The new accountant has time to review your books properly instead of learning your file under the pressure of a filing date.
• Problems get fixed while they are still easy to fix. A missing receipt from June is easy to find in October. The same receipt is much harder to find the following spring.
• Year-end planning happens with the team that will file. Decisions like how to pay yourself, or when to make a large purchase, have to be made before the year closes. The accountant who files the return should be part of them.

What to Ask Your Current Accountant For

Ask in writing, list the items by name, and give a reasonable date. A vague request for "my file" tends to get a vague answer.

• Your accounting file, or full ownership of it. If your books are in cloud software, the subscription and the main admin login should be in your name. If the accountant owns the subscription, ask them to transfer it to you, or to send a full export before your access ends.
• Your last filed returns and financial statements. For a corporation, the T2 return with its schedules and the financial statements. If you are self-employed, your T1 with the business statement (form T2125). Ask for at least the last two years.
• The schedules that carry forward. Capital cost allowance (the tax version of depreciation) by asset class, the shareholder loan balance, any losses carried forward, and the year-end adjusting entries. These are the numbers this year's return starts from.
• Your GST/HST filing history. The returns filed this year, what was paid, and any balance or credit on the account.
• Your payroll records. Source deduction remittances made this year, T4 records, and the status of the payroll account.
• Any open CRA correspondence. Every letter, review or reassessment still in progress, with a copy of what was sent back and the dates.
• The original documents you supplied. Receipts, statements, contracts and anything else you handed over.

Your books and the documents you supplied are yours. An accountant's own internal working notes may be treated differently under their professional rules, which is exactly why the carry-forward schedules above are worth asking for by name.

What to Bring to Your New Accountant

• Everything from the list above, including a note of what has not arrived yet.
• Bank and credit card statements from the start of your fiscal year, for every account the business uses, including the one used only now and then.
• A list of what has been filed this year and what is due next, covering GST/HST, payroll remittances and tax instalments.
• Your business number and your CRA business account sign-in, plus your incorporation documents and minute book if you are incorporated.
• A short note on what did not work before. Late replies, surprise bills, books always behind. It tells the new team what to fix first.

What Happens Next: The Handover in Order

1. Agree a handover date. The date from which the new accountant is responsible. Returns due before it belong to the old firm, returns due after it belong to the new one. Put it in writing to both.
2. Move your CRA access. Authorize the new accountant in My Business Account, or confirm the request they send you through Represent a Client. Then remove the old representative. Removing a representative online cancels their access right away.
3. Take ownership of your accounting software. Make yourself the primary admin, then invite the new team as users. Remove the old firm's access once the export is safely in hand.
4. Check the opening balances. The new accountant compares the start of this year's books to last year's filed financial statements. If they do not match, that is the first thing to fix, because every later number depends on it.
5. Review and correct the year so far. Reconcile each month from the start of the fiscal year, fix what the review finds, then close each month as it ends from here on.
6. Map every deadline between now and year-end. GST/HST, payroll remittances, instalments and the year-end return, each with its date and the name of who owns it.

What Gets Missed in a Handover

Most handover problems are not dramatic. They are small gaps that nobody owned, and they tend to show up months later as a letter or a penalty.

• Old accountant still authorized on your CRA account. They can still see your account and act on it, and it is unclear who is responsible. Remove their access the day the new accountant is added.
• Accounting software owned by the old firm. You can lose access to your own history when they close the subscription. Move the main admin login to your name before the relationship ends.
• No agreed handover date. A GST/HST return filed twice, or not at all, because each firm assumed the other had it. Put the date in writing to both firms.
• Opening balances never checked. Last year's errors carry into this year's return. Compare opening balances to last year's filed statements first.
• Carry-forward schedules not requested. Capital cost allowance, losses or the shareholder loan balance rebuilt from scratch, or wrong. Ask for each schedule by name.
• Open CRA review not handed over. The deadline passes while each firm thinks the other is dealing with it. List every open letter with its date and deadline.
• Final invoice in dispute. The handover stalls while records are held back. Settle it, or raise the dispute in writing separately from the records request.

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How to Ask Without Making It Awkward

You do not owe anyone a long explanation. A short, polite, written request works best, and it gives both sides a record. Something like: "We have decided to move our accounting to a new firm from [date]. Please send the following by [date]: [the list above]. Please also confirm which returns you will file before that date, and send your final invoice so we can settle it."

Most accountants handle this routinely. A clear list and a clear date make it easy for them to do it well.

How Count myAccount Handles This

• Count myAccount assigns your file to an expert who runs the handover, so you are not the go-between for two firms.
• We send you a written list of exactly what to request from your current accountant, and we follow up on anything that has not arrived.
• We send the CRA authorization request for you to confirm in My Business Account, and we remind you to remove the previous access.
• We check your opening balances against last year's filed statements before we touch this year's books.
• We map every deadline between now and your year-end and confirm, in writing, who owns each one on the handover date.
• We own the process and the outcome from the handover date forward. You get a flat fee and clear steps, not an open-ended bill.

Thinking about switching accountants before year-end? Book a free consultation at countmyaccount.ca. Tell us your business type, your fiscal year-end, and how up to date your books are. We will tell you what to ask your current accountant for, what the handover looks like, and what it costs for Count myAccount to take over your file.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need my current accountant's permission to switch?

No. You can change accountants at any time. What you need is their cooperation on the handover: your records, the carry-forward schedules, and a clear line on which returns they will file before the handover date. Asking in writing, with a list and a date, is the most reliable way to get it.

Will my old accountant hand over my records if I owe them money?

The rules depend on the accountant's province and professional body, and they generally treat the documents you supplied differently from the accountant's own work. Keep the two issues apart: request your records in one message, and settle or dispute the invoice in another. If your accountant is a CPA and the handover stalls, the provincial CPA body can explain the rules that apply.

How do I give my new accountant access to my CRA account?

The fastest way is online. Sign in to My Business Account and add the new representative, or confirm the request they send you through the CRA's Represent a Client service. The paper form, AUT-01, only gives offline access by phone, mail or in person, so it is the slower option. Remove the previous representative at the same time; doing it online cancels their access right away.

Is it better to switch before or after my year-end?

Before, in most cases. Switching mid-year gives the new accountant time to review and correct your books before the year closes, and lets year-end decisions be made with the team that will file the return. Switching right after year-end means the new firm starts with a filing deadline and last year's backlog at the same time.

What if my books are behind when I switch?

That is common, and often part of the reason for switching. The new accountant should check the opening balances first, then catch up month by month from the start of the fiscal year, while keeping any live deadline, such as a GST/HST return, on schedule. Our catch-up guide sets out the order to do it in.

How much does it cost to move my books to Count myAccount?

Monthly bookkeeping and business tax returns are flat-fee packages, priced by your revenue and how many transactions you have in a year. Current prices are on our business pricing page. Any catch-up work your books need is quoted before it starts, so you see the price and the steps before you commit.

Related Guides in Our Blog

• Your Books Are Behind and Year-End Is Three Months Away: The Canadian Catch-Up Sequence
• Your Quarterly GST/HST Return Is Due October 31. Here Is What to Have Ready.
• Mid-Year Financial Review: What Canadian Small Businesses Should Fix Before Q4
• A Letter Arrived From the CRA. Here Is the Order to Do Things In.