Notice has been given
A client has given notice. The relationship ends in two months, on reasonable terms. The account manager tells the service desk, who start thinking about what needs doing. Someone remembers the RMM agents. Someone else remembers the backup product. Nobody remembers the email security subscription, the partner relationship on the tenant, the monitoring on the firewall or the password manager seats.
Two months after the end date, you are still paying for backup storage for a client who left, the new provider is emailing to ask for the firewall password, and one of your engineers' admin accounts is still active in the client's tenant.
Why offboarding leaves loose ends
Offboarding is rare compared with onboarding, so there is no practised routine, and the list of things to undo is the sum of everything added over years of service.
- Tools and subscriptions were added one at a time and never listed together.
- Per-client billing from vendors continues until someone cancels it.
- Admin accounts and partner relationships exist in several places.
- Documentation for the new provider is scattered and partly out of date.
- The PSA agreement end date and the actual last day of service differ.
What a messy exit costs
| Loose end | Effect |
|---|---|
| Vendor subscriptions not cancelled | You keep paying for a client who left |
| Your access not removed | Risk and unclear responsibility after the end date |
| Handover incomplete | The new provider chases, and your reputation suffers |
| Agents left installed | Software on devices you no longer manage |
| Billing wrong at the end | Disputes over final invoices |
What you hand over, and when, is governed by your contract with the client. The workflow makes sure every agreed step happens.
The offboarding workflow we build
- An offboarding template in your PSA, generated per client from what your tools know: RMM devices, backup jobs, security products, distributor subscriptions, documentation records and admin accounts.
- Dates for each step tied to the contract end date, such as data export, agent removal, subscription cancellation and access revocation.
- Evidence recorded for each step: who did it, when, and a screenshot or export where useful.
- Subscription cancellations listed per vendor and distributor, with commitment end dates so you know what can be cancelled when.
- A handover pack for the incoming provider, generated from your documentation tool, with credentials transferred through a secure method agreed with the client.
- A final check a few weeks after the end date: no agents reporting, no vendor bills for the client, no active accounts of yours in their tenant.
An exit that ends on time
When notice is logged, the offboarding template is generated with every tool and subscription listed. The account manager agrees the dates with the client and the incoming provider. Each week, the service desk works through the steps due. The handover pack goes over with the documentation current, and the client confirms receipt of credentials.
On the end date, access is revoked and agents are removed. A few weeks later, the final check confirms that nothing is still billing and nothing is still reporting. The client leaves with a clean record of what was handed over, which matters if they ever come back.
The same workflow is useful when a client merges into another business or closes, when the steps are similar but the timelines are tighter.
Commitment terms are the detail that most often costs money. Some per-seat security and backup subscriptions run on annual terms, and cancelling on the day the client leaves may not stop the charges. Because the workflow lists each subscription with its term end from the start of the notice period, the account manager can see which costs will continue past the end date and raise them with the client or the vendor early, rather than discovering them on the distributor invoice three months later.
Does client offboarding look like this?
- You have kept paying vendor charges for a client after they left.
- Your engineers' admin accounts have outlived a contract.
- The incoming provider has had to chase you for information.
- Offboarding steps are remembered rather than listed.
- Final invoices have been disputed.