When to do it, what your old firm has to give back, and how to carry over the balances without a gap. A guide to a bookkeeping handover that breaks nothing.
In short. Changing your accounting firm in Luxembourg is your right: no law ties you to a firm, only the notice period in your engagement letter matters. The handover has four moving parts: recover your documents (which your old firm must keep for ten years and give back to you), carry over the accounting balances without a gap, retrieve a usable history (ideally a FAIA export), and secure the deadlines in flight (VAT, payroll, annual accounts). Done properly, the switch takes a few weeks. Done in the panic of a year-end, it turns into a headache.
Most owners who want to change firm hesitate for one reason: fear of losing the history or ending up with a gap in the books. The concern is fair, but a file handover is a common, well-mapped exercise. Here is how it unfolds, what you are entitled to demand from your old firm, and the points where a badly prepared transition goes wrong.
Can you change accounting firm whenever you want in Luxembourg?
Yes. No Luxembourg law forces you to stay with a given firm: you can switch at any time, subject to the notice period set in your engagement letter. The start of a new financial year is the simplest window, but a mid-year handover is perfectly routine.
The only binding frame is contractual, not legal: reread your engagement letter or terms for the notice period (often one to three months) and the exit terms. A firm cannot hold your accounting documents hostage over a commercial dispute: these are your records, and it is obliged to return them.
The right time to switch
Year-end close is the ideal window. Taking over a file on the first day of your financial year avoids splitting a year in two and simplifies the carry-over of balances: the new firm starts from a clean opening balance sheet, validated by the previous firm's annual accounts. But waiting is not always possible, or wise. If your bookkeeping runs late, if you never get up-to-date figures, or if the year-end invoice doubled your budget, switching mid-year is the lesser evil. In that case, the handover works off an interim trial balance drawn at a set date.
One often-forgotten point: schedule the switch away from a filing deadline. Changing firm the week your annual accounts are due at the RCS is the surest way to miss the deadline and pick up late-filing surcharges. Give the new firm time to take the reins before the next obligation.
What your old firm must give back
Your file belongs to you. At the end of the engagement, the outgoing firm must return every document and dataset needed to keep your accounts running. In practice, here is what to claim, in writing, as soon as the decision is made.
| To recover | Why it is essential |
|---|---|
| The general ledger balance and sub-ledger balances (customers, suppliers) | The numeric starting point of the handover: the closing balance of each account |
| The general ledger and journals for the current year | The detail behind the balances, so they can be understood and checked |
| The last filed annual accounts and tax returns | The opening balance sheet and consistency from one year to the next |
| A FAIA export if the accounts are computerised | The full history in a standard, re-importable format |
| The year's VAT returns and recapitulative statements | To resume VAT with no duplicated or skipped period |
| The live payroll items (payslips, CCSS declarations) | To keep salaries and social declarations running |
Remember that these documents do not vanish with the change of firm: in Luxembourg, accounting books and records must be kept for ten years from the close of the financial year concerned, under article 16 of the Commercial Code. That obligation sits with the company, which makes recovering a clean history all the more important, as we explain in our article on keeping accounting records for ten years in Luxembourg.
Thinking of switching firm but not sure where to start? We tell you exactly what to claim and we handle the handover.
Prepare my file handoverCarrying over balances without a gap
The technical heart of the transition is the balance carry-over. The new firm starts from the balances drawn by the old one (at close, or at an interim date) and re-enters them as the opening position in the new system. Each PCN 2020 account recovers its balance, customer and supplier accounts are carried over line by line to keep the detail of receivables and payables, and the in-flight VAT balances are tied back to the correct period.
Rigour matters here: a rushed carry-over booked as a single lump entry makes the file unreadable and complicates any later audit. On the files we take over, we reload the sub-ledgers in detail and set the accounts to Luxembourg standards from the start, as described in our guide to setting up Luxembourg accounting in Odoo. The day the AED asks for an audit file, the handover must not be the weak link.
Retrieving the history: FAIA, your best ally
If your old firm kept compliant computerised accounts, it can produce a FAIA export, the standardised XML file that holds your entire accounting. It is the ideal handover tool: rather than re-keying or importing rough spreadsheets, the new firm gets a structured, checkable, reusable history. We explain how it works in our article on the FAIA export from Odoo. Always ask for it: an outgoing firm that cannot produce a FAIA is, in hindsight, a sign that your accounts may not have been kept by the book.
The traps in the transition
Three grey zones derail badly prepared handovers. VAT first: if the switch lands mid-declaration period, it must be clear who files the current return, the old firm or the new one, to avoid a duplicate or a gap. Payroll next: payslips and CCSS social declarations tolerate no interruption, salary continuity must be guaranteed from the first month. Deadlines last: an annual-accounts filing or a tax return falling during the switch must be explicitly assigned, never left in the fog of "I thought the other one was handling it".
The golden rule: anything with a date must have a named owner during the transition. A successful handover is not the one where everything moves fast, it is the one where nothing falls between two chairs.
What a handover to Advena changes
A file handover is also a chance to change model, not just provider. With us, the transferred accounts are kept in real time in an Odoo we configure and, often, deploy. Bank feeds arrive automatically, supplier invoices are read on receipt, and you see today's position, not the one from eight months ago. It is the pairing no one else offers in Luxembourg: a classic firm never touches your management tool, an integrator never keeps your books, we do both in the same system.
On budget, the handover leads to the same commitment as any new file: a closed monthly package from 325 € per month, annual accounts and RCS filing included, with a named file manager. The handover work itself (recovery, checks, reloading the balances) is scoped and priced upfront, not billed by the hour as it goes.
Who a mid-year handover does not suit
Let us be blunt. If your year ends in two months, it is often wiser to wait for the close: you will start from a clean opening balance sheet rather than an interim trial balance, and the handover will cost less work. If your existing accounts are badly behind or incomplete, the handover will begin with a catch-up, to be budgeted honestly before switching. And if your structure is a complex multi-jurisdiction setup, the question is less about changing firm than about choosing a specialist. In all these cases, we tell you at the first conversation, not mid-engagement.
Frequently asked questions
Can my old firm refuse to return my documents?
Not for your accounting records: they belong to you and must be returned. A firm may exercise a lien over unpaid work within certain limits. The safest route is to settle any fees due and request the return in writing.
How long does changing accounting firm take?
For an SME, count two to six weeks between the decision and fully transferred accounts. The duration depends mainly on the quality of the data handed over and whether a usable FAIA export exists.
Will I lose my accounting history by switching?
No, provided you recover the balances, the general ledger and a FAIA export. That is exactly what the file handover does: re-injecting that history into the new tool so you restart with no gap and no loss of detail.
Can I switch if my bookkeeping is behind?
Yes, but the handover will start with a catch-up on the backlog, to be priced before starting. It is not an obstacle, it is a step. Often, the backlog is the very reason to switch.
Why Advena?
- A scoped handover, not improvised: recovery, checks and balance reloading priced upfront, with no hourly billing.
- Real time from the first month: your transferred accounts live in a synchronised Odoo, available at any time.
- The ERP and accounting pairing: your books are kept inside the management tool, not alongside it, in the dark.
- A closed package from 325 € per month: annual accounts and RCS filing included, with a dedicated file manager.
Read more: What an accounting firm costs in Luxembourg: fixed fee, hourly rates and hidden extras · Filing annual accounts in Luxembourg: deadlines and late fees · The FAIA audit file: generating it from Odoo · Keeping accounting records for ten years in Luxembourg
Ready to change accounting firm without breaking your books? Tell us where you stand, we scope the handover and give you a fixed package.
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