To manage a handover to a temporary accountant or locum, build a written handover file before they start, give them their own named logins rather than shared ones, walk them through every deadline due during the cover period, and review their first week against the file. Plan the exit at the same time: who takes the work back, and when their access is removed.
A good handover to a temporary accountant in a UK practice covers six things: the client list with responsibilities, a deadline map for the cover period, portal and software access issued in the locum’s own name, each client’s AML status, work in progress and billing, and a client communication plan. Check all six in week one; close access on the last day.
Key points
- A locum accountant is a qualified temporary accountant engaged to cover a role, typically for maternity leave, long-term sickness or a busy season.
- Never hand over your own HMRC or software logins. GOV.UK explains how to give staff their own access to HMRC’s agent accounts.
- UK GDPR requires appropriate security, including control over who can access personal data.
- The Money Laundering Regulations expect firms to train relevant employees and agents, which can include a temporary accountant.
- Plan the handback when you plan the handover.
Why a handover to a temporary accountant goes wrong
Most of the handover advice that ranks for this question is generic workplace guidance, and some of it suggests sharing login credentials. In an accounting practice that is the wrong instinct. The common failures are specific: a VAT return nobody knew was due because it sat in someone’s head, an HMRC letter left unopened in a shared inbox, a new client started before CDD was finished, or a temporary accountant still holding software access months after they left. Each one is preventable with a file and a calendar.
What a handover file should contain
A handover file is a single document, or a folder with an index, that lets a temporary accountant unfamiliar with the clients run them safely from day one. Build it from your practice management system rather than from memory.
| Section | What to include | Where to pull it from |
|---|---|---|
| Client list | Every client the locum covers, entity type, services, partner or manager, and which clients they must not deal with alone | Practice management system |
| Deadline map | Every filing and payment date in the cover period plus four weeks | Workflow or deadline tracker |
| Work in progress | Jobs started, what stage they are at, what the client still owes you | Job list, WIP report |
| Access | Which systems and portals the locum needs, and the access level for each | Your IT and access register |
| AML status | For each client: CDD complete, date last reviewed, risk rating, anything outstanding | AML records |
| Billing | Fee arrangements, unbilled time, overdue invoices, who approves write-offs | Billing system |
| Open correspondence | HMRC and Companies House letters awaiting action, open enquiries, penalty appeals in progress | Post log, shared inbox |
| House rules | Review and sign-off process, who submits under agent credentials, file naming, where notes go | Practice procedures |
Deadlines to put on the map
Cover often falls over winter, the busiest stretch for most practices. For MTD for Income Tax clients, quarterly updates are due 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, and online Self Assessment returns and payments are due by 31 January. Our MTD quarterly deadlines calendar sets out the update periods behind those dates. Add each client’s VAT, payroll, CIS, accounts, confirmation statement and corporation tax dates from your tracker. Show the owner of every date: the locum, the reviewer, or someone else.
Access and security: named logins, MFA and revoking access
Give the temporary accountant their own identity in every system, so their activity is traceable and you can switch it off on the last day.
- HMRC agent accounts. Add the locum as a team member in HMRC online services for agents and in your agent services account, as an administrator or standard user. GOV.UK sets out the steps for both accounts. Most locums need standard user access.
- Practice and bookkeeping software. Create a named user with the narrowest role that lets them do the work. Turn on multi-factor authentication wherever the software offers it.
- Email and documents. Issue a practice email address and limit folder access to the clients they cover.
- Devices. Decide whether they use a practice laptop or their own device, and what rules apply to downloads and local copies.
- Confidentiality. Make sure the engagement or contract covers confidentiality and data protection, and that the locum knows your data breach procedure.
- Access register. Record every login created, with the date. You will use the same list to remove access at the end.
Agent credentials are a separate point. Decide who submits returns under the practice’s agent credentials. Many practices keep final submission with a partner or senior manager while the locum prepares, and that should be written into the house rules.
AML status and training
A temporary accountant inherits clients at varying stages of customer due diligence. Mark each client’s CDD status in the handover file, and tell the locum not to start work for a new client until CDD is complete and approved. Under regulation 24 of the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, firms must make relevant employees and agents aware of the law and train them regularly, and keep a written record of the training.
Add the locum to your training record, give them your AML policies, and tell them who your nominated officer (MLRO) is and how to raise an internal suspicion report. Our guide to AML requirements for accountants sets out the full duties, and AML checks for accountants, in-house or outsourced covers how practices split that work.
Communicating with clients
Clients do not need a long explanation, but they should not be surprised by a new name.
- Email affected clients a week before the start: who is covering, from when, and who to contact if the locum is unavailable.
- Set the departing person’s out-of-office to name the locum and the practice phone number.
- Tell clients with deadlines in the cover period exactly what you need from them and by when.
- Agree how the locum signs emails, so clients can see they speak for the practice.
Week-one review checklist
At the end of the first week, the temporary accountant and their supervisor go through this together:
- Every deadline in the next four weeks has an owner and a status.
- All logins work, MFA is set up, and no shared credentials are in use.
- HMRC and Companies House post since the start date has been logged and actioned.
- No client work has started without completed CDD.
- Work in progress matches the handover file, and gaps are noted.
- The locum knows the review and sign-off route for each type of work.
- Questions the handover file did not answer are added to it for next time.
The handback and closing access
On the locum’s last day, reverse the handover. Update the deadline map and WIP list, hand back open correspondence, and remove every login on the access register: HMRC team member access, software users, email and shared folders. Keep the handover file. It becomes the starting point for the next cover period, and the AML records it refers to must be kept for five years after the business relationship ends under regulation 40.
Using an admin team to keep continuity
The handover is easiest when the routine admin never sat with one person. A practice whose deadline tracking, client chasing, AML document collection and portal admin are run by a dedicated admin team needs to hand the temporary accountant the technical work only, with the calendar, the post log and the CDD status already maintained. That is the model behind our virtual assistant support for accountants, and the reason our guide to handing off HMRC and Companies House portal admin separates admin from judgement.
FAQs
How do you manage a handover to a temporary accountant?
Prepare a written handover file covering clients, deadlines, work in progress, access, AML status and billing. Give the temporary accountant named logins with the access they need, introduce them to clients, and review progress at the end of the first week. Plan the handback and the removal of their access before they start.
Should a locum accountant use the practice’s HMRC login?
No. Add them as a team member in HMRC online services for agents and in the agent services account, with their own sign-in. Named access means you can see who did what and remove it on their last day. Shared logins cannot be revoked for one person without disrupting everyone else.
Does a locum accountant need AML training?
Usually, yes. Regulation 24 of the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 requires firms to make relevant employees and agents aware of the law and give them regular training, and to keep a written record. Give the locum your AML policies, name the MLRO, explain how to report a suspicion, and log the training.
How far ahead should a handover start?
Start building the handover file as soon as the cover dates are known, and allow some overlap so the temporary accountant can shadow before taking over. The deadline map should run from the start date to four weeks past the expected return, so nothing falls between the locum leaving and the permanent person catching up.
What should happen when the locum leaves?
Run the handover in reverse: update the deadline map and work-in-progress list, pass back open correspondence and remove every login on your access register, including HMRC team member access. Keep the handover file and the training record. Both are useful for the next cover period and for any supervisory visit.
Keep your practice running while someone is away
Cover periods go smoothly when deadlines, chasing and portal admin are already maintained by a team. Our virtual assistants for UK accountants work inside your systems, under logins you issue and control, so continuity does not depend on one person. Book a consultation before your next cover period.
