Changing accountants with a business loan on the horizon

October is when a lot of owners finally act on a feeling they’ve had all year: the accountant isn’t the right fit any more. Maybe the business has outgrown a sole practitioner, maybe replies take a fortnight, maybe nobody has ever asked what you’re planning next. Whatever the reason, switching is a perfectly sensible decision.

It just needs timing. If you expect to apply for finance in the next six to twelve months — a vehicle, equipment, a second site, a facility to smooth cash flow — the way your file moves from one firm to the next shapes how a lender reads you. Done well, a new accountant can make your next application stronger. Done in a hurry, it can leave a lender looking at a gap.

Does changing accountants affect a business loan application?

Not directly. No lender marks you down because a different firm name appears on this year’s financial statements. Credit assessors see changes of accountant constantly.

What they do react to is what a rushed change can leave behind:

• A missing year. The old firm finalised two years ago; the new one hasn’t finished last year. Now the most recent financials are stale.
• Figures that don’t line up. A new accountant may reclassify expenses, write off old balances or restate a director loan account. Fair enough — but if the latest year looks very different from the one before and nothing explains why, a lender will ask.
• A late lodgement. A return or BAS that slips between firms shows on your ATO records. Our guide to ATO portal statements explains what a lender reads there.
• Nobody to answer questions. Mid-application, the lender wants to confirm an add-back or a related-party loan. The old accountant has moved on and the new one wasn’t there.

None of these is fatal. Each one is avoidable if the switch is planned.

What should I get from my old accountant before I switch?

Think of this as taking your file with you, not asking permission. Request it in writing, and keep a copy of everything you receive.

Document	Why a lender cares	Loan type it links to
Last two years of financial statements (P&L and balance sheet)	Main evidence of profit and servicing	Larger unsecured loans, term loans, lines of credit
Lodged tax returns and notices of assessment	Confirms what was reported to the ATO	Most income-assessed lending
BAS for the last four to eight quarters	Shows turnover trend and lodgement habits	Cash flow lending
Depreciation and asset schedule	Supports add-backs and shows what you own	Equipment finance, servicing adjustments
Director loan account and Division 7A workings	Explains money moving between you and the company	Company borrowers, guarantor assessment
Trust deed, company register and structure notes	Shows who can borrow and who must sign	Any entity borrower
Admin access to Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks	Lets the new firm prepare interim figures quickly	Everything

That last row matters more than people expect. If the accounting software subscription sits under the old firm’s partner account, ask for it to be transferred to your name or the new firm’s before you leave. Losing access to your own ledger halfway through a loan application is a genuinely painful problem.

Our page on tax returns and notices of assessment covers which years lenders usually ask for, and whose returns they want when there’s a company or trust involved.

Why does 31 October matter if I’m switching now?

Because of the way registered tax agents lodge. Agents work to the ATO’s lodgment program, which gives their clients later due dates than people who lodge themselves. But you only get that benefit if you’re on an agent’s client list in time.

The ATO’s lodgment program calendar for October 2026 lists 31 October as the final date for an agent to add a new client so that their 2026 return is covered by the program. It also notes that if prior-year returns were outstanding at 30 June 2026, those generally need to be lodged by 31 October for the program dates to apply to the 2026 return.

In practice, that means:

1. Leaving your old accountant before 31 October? Make sure the new firm adds you to its client list before that date. Don’t assume the old firm’s listing carries across.
2. Have older returns outstanding? Raise it in your first meeting with the new accountant. Catching up older years is the priority — and it’s exactly what a lender would ask about anyway.
3. Switching in November or later? Ask the new firm to confirm your current due dates in writing before you go any further.

There’s a separate October date for quarterly BAS too: the first-quarter 2026–27 activity statement is due on 28 October for paper lodgers, with later dates usually available for electronic lodgement through an agent. A handover is exactly when a BAS gets missed, so agree who is lodging the September quarter before anyone hands back the keys.

If a loan application is already in motion, start your enquiry and tell us you’re mid-switch. It changes which documents we ask for first, and who we talk to.

How do I give the new accountant access to my ATO records?

For companies, trusts, partnerships and most other entities with an ABN, the ATO requires the business itself to nominate a new agent. It’s called client-to-agent linking, and the ATO’s client-agent linking steps set it out. In short:

• the principal authority for the business needs a myID (formerly myGovID) linked to the ABN through Relationship Authorisation Manager;
• you log in to Online services for business and add the new agent under your agent details, using their registered agent number;
• the agent isn’t automatically told, so let them know when it’s done.

Your new accountant can’t complete the nomination on your behalf. Sole traders are handled differently, so if that’s you, ask the new firm what they need.

While you’re there, check the new firm on the Tax Practitioners Board public register. It takes a minute and confirms they’re registered for the tax agent or BAS agent services you’re engaging them for. Business Queensland’s guide to working with accountants, bookkeepers and tax agents has a short list of other questions worth asking when you choose one.

Once the ATO link is in place, the new accountant can pull your ATO statement of account, lodgement history and any payment plan details — the same records a lender will want to see.

Is it better to switch before or after applying for a loan?

It depends on where you are in the process.

Your situation	Usually the smoother path
Application lodged and documents with the lender	Stay put until it settles, then switch
Planning to borrow in one to three months	Switch only if the old firm will cooperate with the handover; brief both
Planning to borrow in six months or more	Switching first can help — the new firm has time to tidy the books
Books are behind and the current firm isn’t responding	Switch now; overdue work is a bigger lending problem than a new firm

A new accountant with fresh eyes often finds things worth fixing before any lender sees them: unreconciled bank accounts, personal spending running through the business, an overdrawn director loan account. Our guide on separating business and personal spending covers one of the most common clean-ups.

A worked example

This is a hypothetical case to show how the timing plays out.

A two-director landscaping company decides in early October to move from a long-standing local accountant to a firm that offers monthly management reporting. The directors also want to finance a new excavator early next year.

• Week 1: The directors email the old firm to say they’ve appointed a new accountant, and ask for the last two years of financial statements, lodged returns, BAS, the depreciation schedule and transfer of the Xero subscription. The new firm sends its own request to the old firm.
• Week 1: The principal director nominates the new firm in Online services for business. The new firm adds the company to its client list well before 31 October.
• Week 3: The new accountant notices the director loan account hasn’t been reconciled for a year. It’s corrected before the 2026 return is prepared, with a note explaining the adjustment.
• January: With the 2026 return lodged, a set of year-to-date management accounts and a clean ATO statement, the directors apply for equipment finance. The lender sees two firms’ names across three years of financials — and a one-paragraph explanation from the new accountant that answers the obvious question before it’s asked.

Nothing about the switch hurt the application. The planning made it easier.

Advisers: taking on a client who plans to borrow

If you’re the incoming accountant or bookkeeper, ask at the onboarding meeting whether the client expects to apply for finance in the next year. It changes what you prioritise. Locking in the lodgment program position and getting the books current come first; a short restatement note for any reclassified figures comes second.

If you’re the outgoing firm, a prompt, complete handover protects the client — and your reputation with the firm taking over. Our page on what lenders need from accountants lists the documents that make a referral easy, and the Link-up checklist builder splits them between what the owner supplies and what the adviser supplies.

New accountant, same plan: see what’s possible

Switching accountants is often the moment an owner starts thinking seriously about the next stage of the business. That’s a good moment to find out where you stand, while the new firm is still building its picture of your numbers.

Enquiring takes about 60 seconds, and there’s no credit check when you first enquire. We don’t send your details to a pile of lenders, so you won’t be fielding calls from people you’ve never heard of. A real person reads your situation — including the fact that you’re between accountants — and calls you, with your new adviser on the line if that helps. Please fill in the form accurately, including roughly where your latest financials are up to, so we can link you with the right option the first time.

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