Insights · Published 8 November 2026
Many small businesses rely on one person for IT. Sometimes it is a staff member who is "good with computers". Sometimes it is a freelancer or a nephew who set everything up years ago. It works well until that person moves on, falls out with the business, or simply stops answering the phone.
Then the business discovers it does not know the email admin password, the website domain is registered in someone else's name, and nobody knows which company provides the internet line. Recovering control can take weeks and cost real money, while customers wait.
The answer is a proper handover, ideally done long before anyone leaves. Here is what to collect.
Passwords and admin accounts
Make a list of every system the business uses and who has admin access to it. Then make sure the business, not one person, holds those credentials. Store them in a proper business password manager, with access for at least two trusted people, such as the owner and a senior manager.
- Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace admin accounts
- Domain administrator accounts on your server
- Router, firewall and Wi-Fi admin passwords
- Backup system, antivirus console and UPS management
- Accounting software admin and any line-of-business systems
- Website hosting, social media and business banking admin roles
Your domain name and DNS
Your domain name (the part after the @ in your email and in your website address) is one of the most valuable things the business owns. Find out where it is registered, which account it is in, and whose name and email address are on it. If it is in a former staff member's personal account, get it moved into a business account you control, before there is any dispute.
Note when it renews, and make sure renewal reminders go to a shared business address. A domain that expires can take your email and website down overnight. Also note where DNS is managed, because that is what points your email and website to the right place.
Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace
Check who the global administrators or super admins are. There should be at least two, both belonging to the business. Remove the departing person's admin rights, then change any shared admin passwords they knew. Check the recovery email and phone number on admin accounts too: if they point to the leaver's personal phone, they could still reset the password later.
Check who the billing contact is, and that the subscription is paid from a business card or account.
Vendors and contracts
Make a simple list of every IT supplier: internet provider, phone lines, software subscriptions, hardware warranties, printer leases, website hosting. For each, record the account number, the support contact, the renewal date and who is allowed to make changes. Add the business as the authorised contact if it is currently the leaver.
Documentation
Ask for a short written description of how things are set up. It does not need to be a big manual. A few pages covering the network layout, what each server does, how backups work and where they go, how new staff are set up, and any regular tasks that only they did (renewing a certificate, swapping a backup drive, restarting a system on Mondays).
Ask them to walk your next IT person or provider through it, if possible. An hour of handover can save days of guesswork.
Close their access
On their last day, disable their accounts, remove their admin rights, and change the passwords for any shared accounts they used. Collect laptops, phones, keys, access cards and any USB drives with company data. Check for remote access tools they may have installed to support you from home, and remove any that are no longer needed.
This is not about suspicion. It protects the business and the person leaving, because if something goes wrong later, nobody can say it was their account.
If the person has already gone
If you are reading this after they have left and you cannot reach them, start with the most critical items: email admin, the domain name and backups. Microsoft and Google both have processes for proving you own a domain and recovering admin access, and domain registrars have processes for proving ownership. Expect it to take some time and paperwork.
Your handover checklist
Keep this list, and review it once a year even if nobody is leaving.
- Every admin password stored in a business password manager
- At least two business-owned admin accounts for email and cloud services
- Domain name in a business account, with renewal reminders to a shared address
- Recovery phone and email on admin accounts point to the business
- A list of IT suppliers, account numbers and renewal dates
- A short document describing the setup and regular tasks
- Leaver accounts disabled and shared passwords changed on the last day
Dalysie Ghana can take over from a departing IT person, document your setup and make sure the business holds the keys to its own systems.