Prepare and Hand Off Portable Client Records

App path: Clients → choose the client → Continuity

Use this scenario when an auditor requests the supported client record, a client is moving to another firm, your firm is testing business continuity, or you want a periodic copy under your records policy.

Scenario

North Harbor Advisory manages a client with two legal entities. The client is moving to a new accounting firm after year-end. North Harbor needs to provide a reviewable record set without mixing the two ledgers, losing client-wide permanent material, or disconnecting QuickBooks before the handoff is checked.

Goal

Produce one complete set containing:

• one client-shared package;
• one package for each of the client's two configured legal entities;
• a clear common cutoff and package status;
• declared exceptions that the outgoing and incoming accountants can review; and
• an unchanged original archive retained under the firm's custody policy.

Before you start

• Confirm the correct client and expected legal entities.
• Confirm you have client-management permission.
• Agree on the freeze time, final-build timing, and delivery method with the receiving party. Kraal captures the cutoff when it accepts the build; it does not backdate the package.
• Ask whether the receiving party also needs provider-native exports for records held only in QuickBooks or another connected system.
• Choose an approved, access-controlled location for the downloaded archive.
• Resolve active-work and setup blockers before the agreed freeze. Do not disconnect providers before the final package is built and reviewed.

Portability checklist

1. Open Clients and select Continuity for the client.
2. Reconfirm the client name at the top of Continuity & Client Offboarding.
3. If you need to confirm package scope before stopping work, choose Build complete set as a preflight. Review its package count and exceptions, but do not treat or transfer a pre-freeze package as the final handoff record.
4. Resolve missing-entity, access, and source issues while normal work remains available.
5. In offboarding, run Precheck and resolve its blockers. At the agreed cutoff, choose Freeze before producing the final archive. Keep integrations connected.
6. Return to Continuity and choose Build complete set again. This post-freeze build is the final handoff candidate.
7. Wait while Kraal reports package progress. For this example, the expected result is three packages: one shared package plus two legal-entity packages.
8. If the count is lower than expected, stop and verify entity setup and access instead of assuming the missing ledger is empty.
9. When Download complete set appears, download the ZIP before the expiration shown in the recent-package details.
10. Preserve the original ZIP unchanged in the approved location.
11. Open continuity-set-index.json and each package's README.md and manifest.json.
12. Confirm that the final cutoff was captured after the freeze, then confirm the client, each entity, status, and package count.
13. Review every declared omission, unavailable file, and unresolved reference.
14. If a package is Partial, decide whether the declared exception is acceptable for the handoff. Obtain a provider-native export or resolve the source issue and rebuild while the scope remains frozen when it is not.
15. Have IT or audit support follow the included checksum instructions for a formal transfer.
16. Transfer the post-freeze archive using the firm's approved secure method and record who sent it, who received it, and when.
17. Ask the receiving party to confirm they can open the package guides, structured records, and included evidence.
18. Only after the final portable set and any provider supplements are accepted should North Harbor revoke integrations and complete offboarding.

What good looks like

• The complete set shows all expected legal-entity and client-shared packages.
• Every final package has a post-freeze cutoff and a visible Ready or consciously accepted Partial status.
• The two entity ledgers remain separate.
• Client-wide records are present in the companion package rather than guessed into one entity.
• Exceptions are disclosed and addressed; nothing is assumed complete because a ZIP downloaded successfully.
• The original archive is retained unchanged and the transfer is documented.
• Provider-native exports accompany the handoff when material records remain outside Kraal's supported scope.
• Integrations stay connected until the post-freeze export review is complete.

Variation: quarterly continuity check

If the client is not leaving, use the same workflow as a continuity exercise:

1. Build the complete set at the agreed quarter-end checkpoint.
2. Review package count, cutoff, and exceptions.
3. Verify the archive and store it under the firm's policy.
4. Leave normal work and integrations active.
5. Optionally turn on monthly packages for each entity and the client-shared companion, remembering that completed packages still need to be downloaded before expiration to become firm-controlled copies.

If the build needs attention

• Building: wait; do not create overlapping packages for the same scope.
• Partial: inspect the declarations and supplement or rebuild as needed.
• Blocked/Failed: correct the displayed issue and select Retry.
• Expired: build a new set and record its new cutoff.

See Accounting Continuity & Data Portability for package choices, monthly builds, status definitions, and verification guidance.