Court & small-claims ready
Identity-verified acknowledgments with an external timestamp are the kind of contemporaneous record a judge or arbitrator accepts: not screenshots reconstructed after the fact.
For bookkeeping & accounting
Bookkeeping client transitions, documented and verified.
When a bookkeeping client moves to a new provider, both sides need proof of what financial records were transferred, what was incomplete, and what obligations remain. Pactbound makes that record sealed, identity-verified, and verifiable by anyone, even if Pactbound vanishes.
What goes wrong during bookkeeping transitions
Financial record transfers are high-stakes and detail-intensive. Without a verifiable handoff record, finger-pointing is inevitable.
A real transition
Who's liable for the gaps in the books you inherited?
When Priya takes on a new bookkeeping client mid-year, the first month is archaeology: half-reconciled accounts, a payroll tax deposit she can't confirm was ever filed, and a previous bookkeeper who left on bad terms and stopped answering email.
Before she touches anything, she sends the outgoing bookkeeper a Pactbound handoff: a plain checklist of what she received and what's missing. The general ledger runs through May. Bank reconciliations are done through March, not April. There's no record of the Q1 1099s.
She asks the outgoing bookkeeper to confirm the state of the books at handover. They do, because the alternative is looking like they have something to hide. Now there's a line in the sand: everything before that date is documented as someone else's work, with that person's own acknowledgment.
When the client gets a penalty notice in August for a Q1 filing Priya never had, she pulls the record. The books were already late when she arrived, and the prior bookkeeper signed off on exactly that.
Sealed proof of what was transferred
Pactbound packages every financial record, disclosure, and acknowledgment exchanged during the transition into one sealed bundle. The outgoing bookkeeper uploads records and discloses known issues: incomplete reconciliations, pending filings, or discrepancies. The incoming bookkeeper reviews each item and acknowledges receipt, with their identity verified.
If a client later questions whether a tax filing was pending at handoff, or whether bank reconciliations were current, the bundle answers it. The record is tamper-evident: change one byte and it breaks, and anyone can confirm it’s genuine without taking your word, or ours, for it.
Under the hood, each file is hashed, the hashes roll up into a single root, and that root is anchored independently so the timestamp can be confirmed years later. See how the cryptography works.
Bookkeeping Client Transition Template
Start with a pre-built template covering the critical sections of a bookkeeping client handoff. Add custom disclosures for client-specific issues and attach supporting documents.
Template sections
- Client information and entity details
- Chart of accounts and account mapping
- General ledger through transition date
- Bank reconciliation status by account
- Accounts receivable aging report
- Accounts payable aging report
- Payroll records and tax deposit status
- Pending tax filings and compliance deadlines
- Software and system access credentials
- Open items and known discrepancies disclosure
A clean transition protects your liability
When a client moves to a new provider, undocumented handoffs become your exposure. A sealed, acknowledged record of exactly what you delivered and what remained open closes that risk.
What you seal
Every figure a successor could later question.
- The financial statements and reconciliations handed over
- Which periods are complete vs. open
- System access and account ownership transferred
- Pending obligations and filings
- Client-specific procedures and assumptions
- The client’s acceptance of the closing position
Where the receipt does the work
One artifact, three places it pays off.
Chargeback & dispute evidence
Export a bundle as PDF and drop it straight into a Stripe, PayPal, or Square dispute: proof of delivery and proof of acceptance in one file.
Outlives the relationship
The receipt is anchored on a public ledger and verifiable with an open-source script. It holds up years later, with or without Pactbound.
Common questions
What bookkeepers ask before their first handoff
- Who is liable for incomplete books after a bookkeeping client transition?
- Whoever can prove the state of the books at handover. If the incoming bookkeeper documents what was received and what was missing, and the outgoing bookkeeper acknowledges it, responsibility for earlier gaps stays with the earlier provider. Pactbound captures that handover as a sealed, timestamped record both sides sign.
- How do I prove what I handed off to a new bookkeeper?
- Package the general ledger, reconciliations, system access, and any known issues into a Pactbound handoff. Each file is hashed, the recipient verifies their identity and acknowledges receipt, and the sealed record is tamper-evident and verifiable by anyone, even if Pactbound disappears. You get a record of exactly what was transferred and when, that you don't have to take on faith.
- What should be included in a bookkeeping client handoff?
- At minimum: the general ledger through the transition date, bank reconciliation status by account, accounts receivable and payable aging, payroll and tax-deposit status, pending filings and deadlines, system and account access, and a disclosure of any open items or discrepancies. The bookkeeping template covers each of these.
- Does the other bookkeeper need a Pactbound account to sign off?
- No. They open the handoff from a link in their email, confirm their identity with a one-time code, and acknowledge it. No account and no software to install.
Start documenting your next client transition
Free tier includes 5 sign-offs per month. No credit card required.
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