What to Hand Over to an Offshore Bookkeeper

The handover must also identify the boundaries of the role. For an Australian business, routine records work and services that require an appropriate tax or BAS arrangement need explicit instructions and review responsibilities. Agree those boundaries with your finance lead before the person starts.

The accompanying Bookkeeper Handover and Month-End Checklist provides working spaces for responsibilities, access, evidence, exceptions, and sign-off.

The Handover Needs a Starting Position You Can Verify

A dated, reviewed starting position prevents old issues from being treated as new mistakes. Record the last completed reconciliation for every bank and credit card account, the last reviewed reporting period, and any periods that remain open. A folder labelled “current accounts” does not establish which work is finished.

The outgoing bookkeeper or finance lead should identify incomplete bank feeds, missing invoices, disputed customer balances, and adjustments awaiting review. Each open item needs its amount, supporting evidence, owner, and next action. Keep those items in a shared exceptions register so responsibility survives the handover.

For example, a new bookkeeper who receives an unreconciled account should know the last statement date that was checked and the transactions already under investigation. They can then continue the work from that point, with the prior reviewer available to explain the history.

A Defined Scope Keeps Preparation and Approval Separate

A responsibility matrix makes the role workable because it identifies where the bookkeeper can proceed and where a decision is needed. Agree that matrix before granting access. The following is a suggested allocation to adapt to your business, rather than a fixed Covela service package.

Payment preparation should have a separate approval step. In this suggested workflow, the bookkeeper compiles the payment queue and your authorised approver releases it. Record who verifies a supplier bank-detail change and how they confirm it through a trusted contact channel before payment.

In Covela’s staffing model, we recruit, engage, and support the person, including payroll, HR, and performance support. Your business directs their daily bookkeeping work, provides its procedures, and reviews the output. Businesses comparing offshore bookkeeping services should establish whether they are buying a person to work within their finance team or a provider that takes responsibility for an agreed managed service. Our bookkeeper role page explains the work a staffing brief can cover.

Source Records Need Both Evidence and Instructions

A complete handover connects the documents to the process that uses them. Supply the relevant business entities, account list, approved chart of accounts, and current process instructions alongside the records. Explain where invoices arrive, how approvals are recorded, and which person resolves missing information.

An approved example is more useful than an unexplained export. Include one completed reconciliation and show how its source documents, exceptions, and review decision fit together. Where records contain payroll or other sensitive information, give the person access only to the material required for the agreed role.

Software Access Should Follow the Work Assigned

A software role name alone does not establish that the person has the right permissions. Review what the account can actually view, edit, approve, export, and administer. Xero’s permission options are changing, and its current guidance distinguishes product editions and permission groups; use the controls available in your organisation rather than an old access screenshot.¹

Invite the person through an individual account, enable multi-factor authentication, and test a representative task before the first deadline. Multi-factor authentication reduces the risk associated with stolen credentials, but it does not replace appropriate device and access controls.² Keep the business’s account ownership and recovery process with an authorised administrator. Do not put passwords, recovery codes, or banking credentials in the handover checklist.

Your business manages access to its own systems. Record who will change or remove that access if responsibilities change or the person leaves, alongside the permissions approved at the start.

The First Close Should Produce a Reviewable Evidence Pack

A useful close pack shows what was checked, what is still open, and what requires a decision. For each assigned account, record the statement date, ledger balance, reconciliation result, evidence location, and reviewer. An unresolved item should remain visible even when the rest of the account is ready for review.

Consider this hypothetical bank reconciliation, with all amounts in AUD. The statement closes at $18,450 and the ledger shows $18,600. A $150 bank fee appears on the statement but has not been recorded. The bookkeeper attaches the statement evidence and flags the proposed entry under your documented process. After the reviewer confirms the treatment and the entry is recorded, the ledger balance is $18,450. The pack retains the evidence and approval. If the $150 difference cannot be explained, it stays on the exceptions register; a balancing entry would conceal the unresolved item.

A practical month-end sequence is:

1. Confirm that statements and source documents cover the agreed period, and record anything missing.
2. Process authorised entries and reconcile assigned bank and card accounts under the agreed instructions.
3. Review aged receivables and payables, identifying disputes, credits, and proposed payments that need decisions.
4. Compile the supporting schedules and questions for your finance lead or accountant, including items that may belong in a different period.
5. Record review decisions, complete approved corrections, and confirm who can close or lock the period.

The sequence is a suggested working method. Your reporting deadlines and approval arrangements determine the actual calendar. During the first close, allow review time for the person to explain their work and for the reviewer to correct ambiguous instructions.

BAS Responsibilities Need an Explicit Boundary

A bookkeeping job title does not establish authority to provide BAS services. The Tax Practitioners Board distinguishes ordinary bank reconciliations and certain data-entry work from activities such as interpreting BAS provisions or confirming figures for an activity statement.³ Providing BAS services for a fee or reward generally requires registration unless an exemption applies.⁴

Agree the permitted scope with the appropriate registered practitioner before assigning work that may fall within those rules. Record who gives instructions, reviews the relevant work, and takes responsibility for lodgement. This guide does not establish that a particular offshore arrangement qualifies for an exemption, or that Covela provides tax advice or BAS-agent services.

That boundary belongs in the handover itself. The bookkeeper should know where to send an uncertain tax-treatment question and which work must wait for a decision.

Review the Handover Against the First Completed Cycle

The first close tests whether the handover is usable. Review the evidence pack against the agreed responsibilities: were records available, were differences explained, did approvals arrive in time, and did the reviewer have enough information to make decisions? Resolve repeated questions by updating the instructions and examples.

A completed checklist should contain evidence and owners for outstanding work. Where an item is not applicable, record why. Where it is incomplete, give it a responsible person and due date. This leaves the next review with a defined starting point.

Use the downloadable checklist to prepare that record, then bring the role scope, systems, transaction volume, and review arrangements into your bookkeeper brief. For the staffing budget, our offshore staffing cost guide and calculator keeps recurring expenses, setup costs, and management time separate. The wider offshore onboarding checklist covers the first week beyond finance tasks.

References

1. Xero, “Rebuilding user permissions: what’s live and what’s next”, updated 3 November 2026. Accessed 5 November 2026. https://blog.xero.com/product-updates/user-permissions/ ↩

2. Australian Signals Directorate, Australian Cyber Security Centre, “Implementing multi-factor authentication”. Accessed 5 November 2026. https://www.cyber.gov.au/publication/implementing-multi-factor-authentication ↩

3. Tax Practitioners Board, “BAS services”, examples of BAS and non-BAS services. Accessed 5 November 2026. https://www.tpb.gov.au/bas-services ↩

4. Tax Practitioners Board, “Apply to register”, BAS-agent registration and exemptions. Accessed 5 November 2026. https://www.tpb.gov.au/apply-register ↩