A practical handover for unfinished client document requests

Hand over the current position, not the whole inbox

A useful handover lets the next person answer three questions quickly: what are we waiting for, what has the client already been told and what should happen next? Forwarding a long email thread may provide history, but it leaves the new owner to reconstruct the current task.

Use the template below for staff leave, a change of client owner or a review escalation. It is a suggested operational practice. The responsible firm should decide who may access each record and how its working papers are retained. Keep source documents in the agreed repository and pass links only to authorised colleagues.

Use six fields for each open exception

Give every exception a client, period and short title. Describe the unresolved point in plain language, then record the latest communication, current evidence location, next action and owner. Add a date for that next action. If there is no agreed date, say so; do not turn an estimate into a client promise.

Example: ‘Client: Alder Studio. Period: October 2026. Exception: card statement missing. Latest response: client expects bank access to be restored on 7 November. Evidence: October request folder and message dated 4 November. Next action: check the folder on 7 November, then contact Mira if absent. Owner: Elena.’

• Client and reporting period: identify the exact request being handed over.
• Open question: state the missing evidence or decision.
• Evidence location: point to the relevant file, folder or dated note.
• Latest communication: distinguish an actual reply from an unsent draft.
• Next action and date: make the task executable.
• Responsible person: assign one owner and identify the reviewer when needed.

Distinguish common exceptions

Access problem: the document may exist, but someone cannot reach it. Check the intended recipient and folder permissions through the firm's normal process. Do not solve the problem by making the entire folder public.

Wrong or incomplete evidence: keep the request open and specify the correction. ‘Please replace September with October’ is different from ‘we have not received anything.’ If the file is unreadable, say which part cannot be read.

Reviewer decision: the client cannot provide the requested item, or the evidence raises a question. Record the facts and refer the decision to the responsible reviewer. The administrator should not invent an accounting treatment or quietly accept alternative evidence.

Make the receiving person acknowledge ownership

Ask the new owner to open the relevant record, confirm that the link works and read the next action. Update the assignment when they accept the handover. If someone is covering only part of the client work, name that boundary so two people do not contact the client with conflicting requests.

Suggested internal message: ‘Please take ownership of Alder Studio's October card-statement request until I return on 10 November. The client expects access on 7 November. Please check the request folder that day before sending another reminder. Elena is the reviewer if the statement remains unavailable.’

Close the exception with an explanation

When the issue is resolved, record the result, date and person who accepted it. If a reminder was prepared but never sent, leave it labelled as a draft. A sent message is a communication event, not proof the requested document arrived.

Xero's month-end guide recommends clear task ownership and documenting issues for the following cycle. After handover, use recurring problems to improve the next request template: clearer period descriptions, better contact details or a more realistic statement date. Retain unresolved items as visible exceptions until a responsible person closes them.