Outsourcing accounting does not transfer the company's responsibility.
IAPR/AADE notes that a business may outsource part or all of its accounting system to an external accountant, but doing so does not remove the business's underlying responsibility under tax law.
What should be handed over
- latest trial balance and general ledgers,
- customer and supplier balances,
- bank reconciliations and tax-account balances,
- partner/director balances where relevant,
- fixed-asset register and depreciation schedules,
- inventory / warehouse data where applicable.
Do not stop at “returns have been filed”.
The new accounting team should receive VAT returns, withholding-tax filings, E3 and corporate income-tax returns, amendments, open tax matters and any relevant correspondence or payment arrangements.
The digital tax history moves with the accounting records.
Review pending transmissions, classifications, discrepancies and accountant authorisations. IAPR provides a specific authorisation process for accountants and accounting firms within the myDATA environment.
Payroll needs its own handover.
For employers, the transition should cover active employees, core employment terms, leave balances, payroll history, social-security filings and any open labour/payroll items.
Map who has access to what.
Review ERP/accounting software, invoicing provider, myDATA access, payroll tools, bank permissions and document repositories. Changing accountant is also the right time to remove obsolete permissions.
Do not assume the latest trial balance is automatically correct.
Before opening balances are locked, review banks, receivables, payables, VAT, tax accounts, fixed assets, inventory and any unexplained balances. Material discrepancies may justify a separate Accounting Clean-Up & Tax Remediation project before recurring bookkeeping begins.
Ask for an Open Items Register.
Unreconciled accounts, missing documents, myDATA corrections, pending tax matters and unresolved corporate obligations should be documented explicitly rather than carried informally into the new engagement.
The business should retain accessible records.
Greek Accounting Standards require accounting records to be retained for at least five years from the end of the relevant period, or longer where other legislation requires it, in a form that permits retrieval, display and reproduction.
A clean handover before the new operating cycle
If the accounting base is reliable, the business can transition directly into Accounting & Tax. If historical balances or tax inconsistencies exist, we normally start with Accounting Clean-Up & Tax Remediation.
This checklist is a practical transition framework and not an exhaustive legal list. The required handover depends on the business model, accounting system, tax obligations and historical issues of each company.