When your accounting firm merges or retires: what happens to your file

It is unsettling to learn your firm has merged, been acquired, or your trusted accountant has retired. Your first questions are practical: Where are my files? Who can talk to the CRA for me? Do I have to do anything right now? This guide answers them.

What happens to your working papers and prior-year files

Your records belong to your business, and when a firm changes hands they transfer to the successor. Your prior-year T2 returns, assessments, ledgers and working papers should still exist there or with your former accountant.

One distinction matters. The filed returns and your own source documents (bank statements, invoices, receipts, prior financial statements) are yours, and you are entitled to copies. The accountant’s working papers are generally the firm’s property, but a successor firm will rely on them and a departing accountant will usually pass them along. If you do not keep copies of your last few years of returns and statements, request them first.

Your authorization: who can deal with the CRA for you

Here is what most owners miss. Your accountant’s access to your CRA account runs through a representative authorization tied to a specific representative, not to “whoever bought the firm.” After a merger or retirement, a new person or business number may handle your file, and their access is not automatic.

You authorize a representative online through My Business Account (or the representative requests it in Represent a Client and you confirm), or offline using form AUT-01, “Authorize a Representative,” which consolidated the older T1013, RC59 and NR95 forms. A signed AUT-01 must reach the CRA within six months of signing.

Confirm who is now authorized on your account. Adding a new representative does not cancel the old one, so end a prior firm’s access explicitly. You can review access levels in My Business Account at any time.

If a handover is close to a filing date, the T2 deadline calculator gives the filing and payment dates for your year-end.

Continuity questions to ask the successor firm

If a larger firm has taken over your file, you are not obligated to stay, but it is worth a short conversation before you decide. Straightforward questions tell you quickly whether the fit still works:

• Who, specifically, will prepare and review my file, and can I reach that person directly?
• Will my fee arrangement stay the same, and is it fixed or hourly going forward?
• Do you have my complete history — prior returns, working papers and the CRA correspondence on file?
• Is my CRA representative authorization already updated to your firm, or do I need to sign a new one?
• What is your typical turnaround when I email a question during the year?
• Who handles a CRA review or letter if one comes in, and is that included?

Clear answers are a good sign. Vague ones, or being routed to a general inbox for a business you used to be able to phone, are worth weighing honestly against your alternatives.

How switching works if you would rather choose fresh

Switching is simpler than most owners expect, and this is a natural moment. You sign a new authorization, your new accountant requests the files, and the professionals handle the handover.

See what happens when you move firms and your first 90 days with a new accountant for records, authorization steps and timing. Mission and Fraser Valley owners can see our accountant in Mission page.

Timing: why year-end matters

The tidiest handoff happens after a fiscal year-end has been filed. The numbers are closed, the assessment is in, and a new accountant starts cleanly with the next year. If your year-end is near and your firm’s status is unclear, settle who is filing it soon. The weeks before a T2 deadline are the hardest time to move a file, and a return that slips because “everyone assumed someone else had it” is the outcome to avoid.

If you are mid-year, you can still switch at any point; you simply give your new accountant access to the year-to-date records so nothing is lost. The main thing is not to leave your file in limbo while a merger settles.

The bottom line

A merger or retirement is inconvenient, but handled in order it does not put your records or CRA standing at risk. Get copies of recent returns and statements, confirm who is authorized with the CRA, ask the successor firm the continuity questions, and if the fit no longer works, switch cleanly after a year-end. Your file stays under your control.

This article is general information for Canadian business owners and is current as of July 2026. It is not tax, legal or accounting advice, and it does not create a client relationship. Tax rules change and your situation is unique, so please speak with a CPA before acting on anything here.