Hiring guide
Changing fractional CFO providers: a handover checklist
By CFO Index · Published
When changing CFO providers, preserve the next reporting and decision cycle before redesigning the finance function. Agree what the outgoing provider will complete, what the incoming provider will take over and what remains your team's responsibility. This is an operational handover guide, not advice on terminating a contract.
Review the existing terms first
Check notice, agreed deliverables, working-file rights and the process for additional handover work with the appropriate adviser. Do not assume every model or subscription transfers automatically. ICAEW's practice guidance discusses clear disengagement terms for its firms; your specific contract and circumstances still determine the arrangement. Resolve disputed commercial issues through the proper channels rather than using this checklist as a legal conclusion.
Inventory what keeps the business running
List reports, forecasts, source connections, recurring meetings and upcoming deadlines. For each output, record its location, owner, last completed period and next due date. Include manual steps and scheduled exports. The incoming provider should know which processes are reliable and which depend on undocumented work. Ask for the current version and relevant historical versions, not a random collection of attachments.
Separate handover facts from recommendations
Request a short issues register describing unresolved differences, missing information and decisions awaiting management. Ask the outgoing provider to identify assumptions they consider uncertain. The incoming CFO can challenge them, but should not lose the factual trail. A disputed forecast assumption should remain visible as a judgement, not be silently presented as an accounting error.
Run one reproducibility check
Have the receiving team recreate a recent report or update a small part of the forecast from approved inputs. Compare the result and investigate differences before the outgoing team becomes unavailable. This is not an audit; it is a practical continuity test. Agree who will answer questions and for how long. If extra work is needed, clarify scope rather than assuming unlimited support.
Coordinate access changes with delivery
Use the company system owners to grant and remove permissions. Do not ask providers to share personal credentials with one another. Confirm that necessary files and instructions have been transferred before closing access needed for the agreed handover, while removing unnecessary permissions promptly. NIST's guidance is a useful security reference, but your IT owner should decide the exact sequence and controls.
Close the transition explicitly
Confirm which outputs were accepted, which issues remain and who owns each next action. Record the final reporting cut-off so both providers are not updating the same period without coordination. Keep the first review with the new CFO focused on continuity and known risks. Once the process is stable, evaluate improvements separately rather than changing every tool during the handover.