A transition page should explain what moves when a client switches to the firm (accounts, IRS authorizations, records, and the working relationship), what the client does at each step, what the firm does, and what the prior firm does, in the words of the rules that govern each transfer. It should describe the process without criticizing the firm the client is leaving or promising a timeline the firm does not control.
People switch advisors and accountants after a retirement, a merger, a missed deadline, or a relationship that simply wore out. What holds them back is rarely the decision itself. It is the paperwork, the worry about losing records, the awkward conversation with the old firm, and the fear of switching in the middle of a tax year or a market swing. A page that walks through the mechanics answers those worries before the first call.
This page helps owners and marketing leads at financial, accounting and tax firms plan transition content. It is not legal, tax, or investment advice, and each step described here needs confirmation from the person at the firm who runs transitions.
Name the switch the reader is making
Moving to a new advisor, a new CPA, and a new bookkeeper are three different processes. An advisory transition usually involves moving accounts between custodians or broker-dealers. A tax transition involves prior returns, IRS authorizations, and sometimes an open IRS matter. A bookkeeping transition involves access to accounting software, bank feeds, and the history inside them. Moving an account is not the same as moving a relationship, and the page should cover both: the mechanics and what the first months with the new firm look like.
Firms that do more than one kind of work can use one page with clear sections, or separate pages linked from each service. Either way, the reader should find their own switch within a few seconds.
Account transfers, in FINRA's terms
For brokerage accounts moving between FINRA member firms, Rule 11870 describes the process. When a customer "gives authorized instructions to the receiving member, both members must expedite and coordinate activities with respect to the transfer." The carrying firm has "within one business day following the establishment of such account transfer instructions" to validate them or take exception, and "Within three business days following the validation of a transfer instruction, the carrying member must complete the transfer," with the rule noting that timeframes can change through publications relating to the Automated Customer Account Transfer Service (ACATS).
That gives the page a plain explanation: the client usually starts the transfer with the new firm, not by calling the old one, and the two firms coordinate from there. It does not support a promise that every account moves within a set number of days, since exceptions and asset types the firm cannot hold can slow things down. Advisers have an onboarding step of their own to describe: SEC-registered advisers must, with limited exceptions, "Deliver to a client or prospective client your current brochure before or at the time you enter into" an advisory contract.
IRS authorizations and the prior preparer
Tax clients often ask whether they need to tell the old preparer anything. The IRS instructions for Form 2848 say that "If the IRS records this power of attorney on the CAF system, it will generally revoke any earlier power of attorney previously recorded on the system for the same matter," and that a taxpayer who wants to keep an existing authorization should "check the box on line 6." A page can explain, in those terms, that a new authorization generally replaces the old one for the same matters, and that a client with an open matter the prior preparer is still handling should raise it before signing.
Records are the other half. The new firm usually needs prior-year returns, and sometimes depreciation schedules, carryforward details, or correspondence with the IRS. Before writing the records section, the transition lead can pull the files for recent switchers and ask, "What did we have to chase down for the last three clients who came from another firm, and how long did each item take?" That list becomes the page's document checklist, with a note on who requests each item. For practitioners under Circular 230, the rule says a practitioner "must, at the request of a client, promptly return any and all records of the client" needed for the client's federal tax obligations, with a narrow exception for fee disputes where state law allows it. The firm's ethics partner confirms how that rule and the firm's own professional rules apply before the page describes the records request.
Write about the prior firm with care
A transition page is tempting ground for criticism of the old firm: missed deadlines, high fees, slow replies. Leave it out. A reader may still like their current advisor, the old firm may be a referral source next year, and for SEC-registered advisers, the marketing rule bars an advertisement from including "any untrue statement of a material fact" or omitting what is needed to keep it from misleading. Describe what the firm does, not what others fail to do.
Timing questions deserve honest answers instead of reassurance. If switching tax preparers in March is harder than in June, say so and explain how the firm handles it.
Fictional example: a CPA firm in Oregon taking on a retiring practitioner's clients
A fictional CPA firm in Oregon is taking on clients from a sole practitioner who is retiring. Dozens of those clients will arrive in the same quarter, many with questions about authorizations and records. The firm builds one transition page from its existing onboarding checklist.
| Step | What the client does | What the firm does | What the prior practitioner does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engagement | Signs the engagement letter | Explains scope and fees for the first year | Nothing yet |
| Authorizations | Signs new IRS authorizations, flagging any open matter | Files them and confirms they are recorded | Finishes or hands off open matters, as agreed with the client |
| Records | Authorizes the request for prior returns and schedules | Requests and reviews them | Provides the records the client asks for |
| First meeting | Reviews the summary of what transferred | Walks through anything missing or unusual | Not involved |
The table came from documents the firm already had. The writer should not have to invent the order of these steps or guess what the retiring practitioner agreed to provide; the managing partner supplies both from the transition agreement, and the page goes live only after both firms have seen it. It links to the firm's page on what happens after the first call and to its answers on what prospective clients ask before hiring.
In Hudson South's process, Authority Asset gathers the firm's approved business knowledge and evidence, such as onboarding and transition checklists. Hudson Twenty-One records how the firm communicates across 21 dimensions, Market Intelligence researches what people in the firm's market ask before switching, and AEO Creation turns those inputs into answer-first content.
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- 11870. Customer Account Transfer Contracts. FINRA. Read 2026-10-16.
- 17 CFR 275.204-3, Delivery of brochures and brochure supplements. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (National Archives). Read 2026-10-16.
- Instructions for Form 2848. Internal Revenue Service. Read 2026-10-16.
- 17 CFR 275.206(4)-1, Investment adviser marketing. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (National Archives). Read 2026-10-16.
- 31 CFR 10.28, Return of client's records. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (National Archives). Read 2026-10-16.