Switching accountants mid-year: how bad is it really?

thatguyfromlehi · 3/19/2026

Everyone warns you not to switch during the year. We did it in August and it was fine — new firm asked for a trial balance, prior returns, and payroll access, and had us clean in six weeks. The dread was worse than the work. Anyone have a horror story to balance mine out?

4 replies

Get your file access and prior returns in writing before you tell the old firm. Everything after that is logistics.
bookkeeping_becky · 3/20/2026
Ours held the QBO file hostage for three weeks over an unpaid invoice we already disputed. Pay it and leave, not worth the fight.
801hustle · 3/20/2026
Oof. We got lucky then.
thatguyfromlehi · 3/20/2026
From the other side: switching in August is genuinely easier than January. In January we are also onboarding 40 other people.
CPAwithaBoat · 4/2/2026