What Your Accountant Needs When You Change Business Bank Accounts
What your accountant needs when you change business bank accounts is a clear handoff: the new account’s details, the transition dates, and a record of payments and deposits that must move. Organizing those details helps your accountant keep the books consistent while you update customers, payroll, vendors, and tax payments.
Prepare a clear handoff for your accountant
Send your accountant the new account’s business name, bank, account type, purpose, and last four digits. Never send passwords or other login credentials.
Provide the opening date, the date you plan to start using the account, the date of its first transaction, and its opening balance. These details help establish when the new account belongs in the books and what balance to use at the start.
Include the bank’s opening confirmation and, when available, the first statement. Name the account signers and identify who in your business is coordinating the change, so questions and follow-ups have a clear owner.
Use this short accountant handoff checklist:
- New account details and opening confirmation
- Opening date, planned first-use date, and first-transaction date
- Opening balance and first statement when available
- Names of account signers and the person managing the transition
- A list of payments, deposits, and account connections to update
If you need help organizing monthly records during the transition, the First-Year Bookkeeping Special provides cash-basis bookkeeping for small businesses with up to four accounts and a monthly accountant review. Contact PTN Accounting through bookkeeping page to discuss whether that support fits your needs.
Inventory deposits, payments, and account connections
Review at least a full year of account activity, then check calendars and contracts for transactions that may not appear regularly. Include customer deposits, payment-processor settlements, vendor payments, subscriptions, card payments, loan withdrawals, and seasonal or annual charges.
Make a separate list for payroll deposits and withdrawals, tax-agency payment instructions, estimated tax payments, and other authorized payments. These may require different approvals or instructions than routine vendor payments, so track them distinctly.
Record services and authorized users connected to the old account, along with bank feeds, account mappings, and relevant accounting records. Ask your accountant to mark each item as updated, tested, or pending; a saved change to payment instructions does not prove that a payment has reached the new account.
Set up the books for the cutover
Agree with your accountant on a cutover date and the date the new account should first appear in the books. Use those dates consistently when sorting bank statements and transaction records, and have the accountant add the new account to the chart of accounts and update its bank feed, mappings, and transaction rules as needed.
Start the new account’s bookkeeping from its opening balance, then identify outstanding checks, pending card or ACH transactions, and deposits in transit by the account they belong to. An item can clear after the cutover date while still belonging to the old account’s activity.
Record transfers between the old and new accounts as transfers, not income or expenses. Match the withdrawal from one account to the deposit in the other so the same movement of cash is not counted twice.
The Internal Revenue Service recordkeeping guidance generally says to keep records for 3 years when its listed exceptions do not apply. Keep the statements and transaction records your accountant needs to support the entries made during the transition.
The 3-year period is not universal: the IRS guidance describes longer retention when a return omits substantial income, is fraudulent, or is not filed, and different deadlines for certain refund claims. Employment-tax records and documents supporting a property’s tax basis also have separate retention rules. Check the linked guidance and ask your accountant which rules apply before discarding records.
Redirect payroll, taxes, customers, and vendors
Update customer payment instructions and payment processors, then check that deposits arrive in the new account. Where practical, verify the change with an actual transaction rather than relying only on a confirmation that settings were saved.
Contact your payroll provider to update direct-deposit funding and payroll withdrawals. Review tax-agency payment authorizations and scheduled tax payments separately from payroll funding. For help preparing returns, see tax prep.
Notify vendors and update recurring ACH payments, cards, and other automatic withdrawals. Record the effective date for each change, plus any payment that cannot be redirected immediately, so you know what to watch for in both accounts.
Run both accounts in parallel before closing the old one
Monitor statements and transaction activity in both accounts during the transition. Compare activity with your records to spot uncleared items, unexpected charges, delayed deposits, and withdrawals that still use the old account details.
Review both accounts at least weekly and reconcile each statement as it closes. Continue through several statement cycles and until scheduled deposits, payroll and tax payments, checks, and automatic withdrawals have cleared in the intended account. Log exceptions and follow-ups, and keep the old account open until the tracker is clear and its final statement is saved.
Do not stop using or close the old account until outstanding checks, delayed deposits, recurring withdrawals, payroll activity, and tax payments have cleared or been redirected. Keeping the account available during this period gives pending transactions a place to settle and makes it easier to investigate problems.
Download and retain the old account’s statements and transaction details, along with confirmations of payment and account changes. Keep your own records so your accountant can answer questions about the transition later.
Flag changes to the business, signers, or loan terms
Tell your accountant whether you are changing only the bank account or also changing the business name, legal structure, ownership, or tax identification details. A change to the business itself may affect bookkeeping and tax reporting, not just the account information.
If the legal entity or ownership is changing, ask your accountant which records and tax details need review, and ask the bank what business and signer information it requires.
Before moving funds, review loan agreements and other banking arrangements for terms that may require an operating account or payment activity with a particular lender. Ask the lender about any requirements that apply to your account before you make the move.
Frequently asked questions
Should my accountant have direct access to my business bank account?
Use the bank’s authorization process to grant only the access needed for the bookkeeping work, and avoid sharing your personal sign-in details. Review authorized users when responsibilities change and remove access that is no longer needed.
What should I do if a customer payment or automatic withdrawal still reaches the old account?
Find out whether the transaction posted, was returned, or is still pending, and keep its confirmation or reference details. Give the status to your accountant so the books reflect what actually happened and the payer or provider can correct future instructions.
How long should I keep statements from a closed business bank account?
Record-retention periods depend on the type of record and the circumstances. The IRS explains recordkeeping considerations in its guidance on how long to keep records; ask your accountant which requirements apply to your business and retain statements in an accessible form.
Can I change business banks online, or do I need to contact the bank directly?
Follow the bank’s process for opening or changing an account, and contact it directly if you need to clarify required business documents or signer authority. Also ask the bank about any account-specific steps for moving linked services or closing the old account.
How hard is it to switch business bank accounts?
Switching is manageable when you map each recurring payment and deposit to its destination before the change.
Can I change my business account to another bank?
Yes, you can move your business banking to an account at a different bank.
Conclusion
What your accountant needs when you change business bank accounts is a reliable record of the new account, the cutover dates, the opening balance, and every payment or deposit affected by the move. Share the handoff early, track updates through testing, and keep both accounts’ records available until the transition is complete.
This article provides general information, not advice for a specific business.
Prepared with AI assistance. General educational information; not individualized tax, legal or accounting advice.