They turned in their laptop. You disabled their email. You’re covered, right?
Not even close.
When an employee leaves—whether it’s a planned departure or a sudden exit—your financial systems can be left wide open if you don’t have the right offboarding process in place.
We’ve seen it happen:
- Ex-employees logging into accounting systems months after they’ve left
- Vendor bills are going unanswered or to unmonitored email accounts
- Former staff are still listed as account admins or users in payroll and banking tools
Even though most people do the right thing, failing to account for all the aspects of someone leaving opens you up to a boatload of unnecessary risk
The fix? A simple, thorough checklist that protects your systems, your money, and your reputation.
✅ 1. Disable Email and Logins
Start here, and act fast. Revoke access to:
- Company email
- Accounting and payroll software
- Banking platforms
- Internal communication tools (Slack, Teams, etc.)
- Cloud storage (Google Drive, Dropbox)
Make sure nothing’s left hanging in the background.
✅ 2. Reclaim Company Cards and Equipment
Cancel all company credit or purchasing cards in their name.
Collect physical items like laptops, phones, USB drives, authentication tokens, or office keys.
✅ 3. Remove Access from Cloud-Based Tools
It’s easy to forget all the systems employees touch. Think through everything, starting with those most likely to put you at financial risk, including:
- QuickBooks, Xero, or NetSuite
- Stripe, Square, or PayPal
- CRM, time tracking, or inventory platforms
Next, move on to other SaaS apps your team uses.
Track this in a shared tool or checklist so nothing slips through the cracks. Doing so also gives you a tool to onboard (and offboard) future team members.
✅ 4. Update Financial Accounts
If the employee was the admin or billing contact, update it. This includes:
-
- Bank accounts
- Payroll systems
- Payment processors
- Bill pay platforms
- Any tool where login or two-factor auth ties to their phone or email
✅ 5. Update Internal Documentation
Review any SOPs, process docs, or internal resources that list them by name or title.
Transfer institutional knowledge if they managed unique workflows.
✅ 6. Notify Banks and Vendors
If they handled payments, invoicing, or purchasing approvals, let those partners know.
Update your primary contact details to avoid confusion or delays.
✅ 7. Reset Shared Passwords
Even if they never wrote anything down (spoiler: they probably did) and you use password managers like LastPass or 1Password, it’s a good idea to change every shared login.
Start with:
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- Financial applications
- POS and merchant platforms
- Shared inboxes or storage
✅ 8. Review Payroll and Benefits
Confirm their final paycheck is correct, including PTO payouts or reimbursements.
Terminate benefits access and remove them from insurance plans, 401(k), or HSA portals.
✅ 9. Update Internal Control Workflows
Offboarding one person can create major gaps.
Reassign approval duties, financial oversight, or reconciliation tasks they handled—and double-check that no one person now controls too much.
✅ 10. Schedule a Post-Departure Review
Within 1–2 weeks, review:
- Any accounts that may still need cleanup
- Whether notifications are going to the right people
- What you missed—and how to tighten up the process next time
If you use an outsourced bookkeeping or controller service like ours, they can help you stay on top of anything that might otherwise send up red flags.
You Don’t Know What They Still Have Access To—Until It’s Too Late
Offboarding isn’t just an HR task. We see it as a financial control. And we often advise our clients on gaps in their controls and processes to improve their overall health and reduce risk.
Whether you’re a small business or scaling fast, make this checklist part of your standard offboarding process—and audit it at least once a year.
Need help building a better internal controls system or protecting your financial processes?
Get in touch with our team.
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