How to Change Accountant in Ireland: A Step-by-Step Guide for Businesses

# How to Change Accountant in Ireland: A Step-by-Step Guide for Businesses

You can change accountant at any time, but the safest switch is planned around your company’s live tax and CRO deadlines. Choose the new firm first, confirm its scope and fees in writing, authorise the handover, and keep a checklist of records and access that must transfer. Do not assume that appointing a new accountant automatically moves every document, filing responsibility or software permission.

When should you consider changing accountant?

A change may be sensible when the present relationship no longer gives the business what it needs. Common warning signs include repeated missed calls, unexplained delays, surprise charges, uncertainty about upcoming deadlines, or advice that arrives only after a decision has been made.

One poor interaction is not always a reason to leave. Start by writing down the specific problem and the result you need. A direct meeting may resolve unclear responsibilities or communication expectations. If it does not, that written list becomes a useful specification for the new firm.

Treat any approaching filing or payment date separately. An Irish company normally files its Corporation Tax return and pays the balance due nine months after the accounting period ends, by the relevant electronic filing date. CRO annual-return timing follows a different system. A switch close to either deadline needs an explicit responsibility plan.

Step 1: Check what is currently due

Before seeking proposals, prepare a one-page position:

• company financial year-end and CRO Annual Return Date;
• last B1 annual return filed and whether the next financial statements are ready;
• last CT1 filed and the next Corporation Tax and preliminary-tax dates;
• current VAT and payroll filing position;
• any Revenue correspondence, audit, query or payment arrangement;
• unfiled returns, incomplete bookkeeping or unresolved director transactions;
• access held by the current accountant to ROS, CORE, payroll and accounting software.

This prevents a dangerous gap in which each firm believes the other is handling a deadline.

Step 2: Choose the new accountant before giving notice

Interview more than one firm if practical. Give each the same factual scope so that proposals can be compared fairly. Explain turnover, transaction volume, employee numbers, VAT and payroll frequency, bookkeeping software, filing condition and the type of advice required.

Ask:

1. Who will manage the relationship day to day?
2. What exactly is included in the quoted fee?
3. Which items are charged separately?
4. Who handles bookkeeping, VAT, payroll, year-end accounts, CT1 and CRO work?
5. How are urgent queries and Revenue correspondence handled?
6. What information must you supply, and by when?
7. What will the firm do during the first 30 days?
8. Does it have experience with businesses of your scale and sector?

IAASA recommends choosing an individual who is a full member of an accountancy body within its supervisory remit. If your company requires a statutory audit, separately confirm that the proposed auditor or audit firm is approved to perform statutory audits in Ireland.

Step 3: Agree the engagement in writing

Do not rely on a broad promise to “look after everything”. The engagement should identify:

• each entity and person covered;
• the services included and excluded;
• outstanding work inherited from the old firm;
• the start date and first deadlines;
• the fee basis and additional-work approval process;
• information the business must provide;
• communication contacts and expected response arrangements;
• who is responsible for CRO/company-secretarial filings;
• how data, software access and termination will be handled.

The company’s directors remain responsible for the company’s obligations even where work is outsourced. A clear engagement helps everyone know who performs each task; it does not transfer the directors’ legal responsibility.

Step 4: Give written authority for the handover

Once appointed, the incoming accountant will normally ask for authority to contact the outgoing firm. The firms may then carry out the professional-clearance and information-transfer process required by the relevant professional rules.

You should also notify the outgoing accountant in writing. Keep it factual: confirm the termination date, name the new firm, authorise appropriate communication and ask for a schedule of anything outstanding.

If fees are disputed, do not ignore them. Ask for an itemised statement and identify what is agreed and disputed. The effect of outstanding fees on particular records or work products can depend on the engagement and professional or legal rules, so obtain specific advice rather than relying on a general internet answer.

Step 5: Control the records and access transfer

Use a handover list rather than a single request for “the file”. Depending on the business, the transfer may include:

Make sure the business—not an individual adviser—retains appropriate control of its core software subscriptions, bank feeds and administrator credentials.

Step 6: Reconfirm Revenue, CRO and software permissions

Changing accountant may require new tax-agent authorisations and revised user access. Confirm that the incoming firm can see the correct taxes and periods in ROS and that responsibility for CORE filings is understood. Remove old access when it is no longer needed, but not before the transfer has been verified.

Do the same for cloud bookkeeping, payroll, document storage and payment applications. Never share a personal password where the platform supports named users and role-based permissions.

Step 7: Hold a first-month handover meeting

The new relationship should begin with more than a file transfer. Use the first meeting to agree:

• the next six filing and payment dates;
• monthly record-delivery dates;
• who reviews bookkeeping quality;
• how VAT and payroll approvals work;
• when year-end work will begin;
• what management information the owner will receive;
• how queries and additional advice will be priced;
• how progress and service quality will be reviewed.

For an established business, the new accountant should also understand the commercial picture: margins, cash pressure, borrowing, hiring plans, capital expenditure and owner objectives. That context determines whether the service should extend beyond annual compliance.

A practical switching checklist

• [ ] Record all live Revenue and CRO deadlines.
• [ ] Identify unfinished returns, accounts and queries.
• [ ] Compare new firms using the same written scope.
• [ ] Check professional membership and, if relevant, audit approval.
• [ ] Sign an engagement that clearly allocates work.
• [ ] Authorise professional clearance and information transfer.
• [ ] Resolve or clearly document fee disputes.
• [ ] Inventory company, tax, payroll and bookkeeping records.
• [ ] Transfer software ownership and named-user access.
• [ ] Confirm ROS and CORE arrangements.
• [ ] Test that opening balances and prior-year schedules were received.
• [ ] Agree a 30-day action plan and service calendar.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need my current accountant’s permission to change?

You choose your adviser. However, an orderly handover normally involves communication between the incoming and outgoing firms, and the incoming professional may have clearance and client-acceptance procedures to complete.

Should I wait until the financial year-end?

Not necessarily. The more important questions are which work is in progress, what deadlines are approaching and whether both firms have agreed who completes each item.

What if my accounts or tax returns are already late?

Tell the proposed new accountant before appointment. Ask for a written recovery plan that prioritises the most urgent filings, establishes what records are missing and explains how current obligations will be kept up to date while the backlog is cleared.

Will all of my information transfer automatically?

No. Treat the handover as a controlled project. Use an inventory, confirm receipt and test access to key systems and opening balances.

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