What happens to the data if I change accountants?

In a system in the business's name, nothing - it stays yours. In the practice's portal it depends on the arrangement, so it is a question to ask at the start. In most cases there is a way to get the material, but knowing how in advance beats working it out mid-move.

Is an accountant's portal cheaper?

It usually looks cheaper because the cost is embedded in fees. The right comparison is not price against price but package against package: what is included, what can be connected, and what happens on exit. Sometimes it genuinely is cheaper, and sometimes it is simply less visible.

You can, and it is usually unnecessary: two systems issuing documents mean two numbering series, a known problem described in [invoice numbering and series control](/blog/invoice-numbering-and-series-control). What does work is one system your accountant has access to.

My accountant prefers I work in their tool. Is that reasonable?

Entirely - they work faster in a tool they know, and that also saves you in fees. What is worth asking for is the combination: if possible, the account in the business's name with access granted to them. In most practices that is a perfectly normal request.

Your Accountant's Portal or Your Own System: Who Holds the Data

Working in your accountant's portal is convenient until you change accountants. The difference in data ownership, what to check, and when each option is right.

There are two ways to work: a system your business subscribes to, or a portal your accountant provides as part of the service. Both are legitimate, and the substantive difference between them surfaces at exactly one moment - when you change accountants. That is when it becomes clear whose account it was, and what happens to the data.

This is an operational description, not advice. Your retention and reporting obligations are a question for your accountant and the official authority pages.

What is the substantive difference?

	A system in the business's name	The accountant's portal
Who owns the account	You	The accounting practice
Who pays	You, directly	Usually included in fees
Access after changing accountants	Stays	Depends on the arrangement
Data export	Yours, at any time	As the practice permits
Fit to your needs	Full	As the practice chose
Visible cost	Clear	Embedded in fees
Convenience at the start	Needs setting up	Immediate

The third row is the only difference that genuinely matters. Everything else is preference; that one is structural.

When a portal is the right choice

A business just starting out that wants to be working tomorrow morning.
A very small business with few documents a month.
When the practice works efficiently in its own tool and passes the saving into its fees.
When no customisation is needed - branding, connections, or a special document layout.

In those four situations a portal saves setup and a separate cost, and that is worth something.

When your own system is better

When you issue many documents and want control over appearance and process.
When you need connections - store, clearing, CRM.
When you might change accountants in the coming years.
When the system is also used for management, not only reporting - debt tracking, collections, customers.
When there are employees needing limited access.

The third point is not a hint about anybody. Businesses change accountants for good reasons - growth, specialisation, relocation - and that decision should be commercial rather than tied to a system.

The combination that usually works

The solution acceptable to both sides: a system registered in the business's name that the accountant is granted access to. That way you own the data and they work comfortably, with no file round trips. Israeli systems support this explicitly, and some offer a dedicated practitioner area.

What to define in that arrangement:

A permission in their own name, not a shared user.
View and report permissions, not necessarily changes.
An orderly closure of the permission when the relationship ends.

What to check before starting

Whose name the account is opened in.
Who pays, and what happens if payment stops.
What can be exported, and in what format - as covered in exporting your data out of invoicing software.
What happens to access if you change accountants.
Whether you can connect your store or clearing.
Whether documents carry your branding.

Question four is the one to ask at the start of the relationship, while everything is good - not at the end of it.

How this looks in a growing business

Many businesses start on a portal and that is right, then reach a point where it stops fitting. The signs are clear: you want to connect the store and cannot; you want documents to look like your brand and cannot; an employee needs limited access and there are no permissions; or you need a report that is not in the menu.

Three of the four justify moving. What matters is doing it in an orderly way - with a cut-off date, a full export, and a numbering decision - exactly like any system migration, as covered in switching invoicing software mid-year.

What about the older documents

A forgotten question: if you worked three years in a portal and you are moving, what happens to those three years of documents. Three possibilities, each with a price: the practice provides a full export - the best case; the practice leaves read access for a period - reasonable; or you download what you need by hand - work. Either way, the retention obligation stays with you rather than transferring to the practice, which is why this is a question to ask at the start - while the answer is still theoretical.

What to ask before signing up for a service

Three short questions for the practice, at the start of the relationship rather than the end:

Whose name the system account will be in, and who pays for it.
What happens to the data and the access if you part ways - not as a threat, as a practical question.
Whether the system can be in your name with access granted to them.

Most practices answer all three without hesitation, and some offer the third option themselves. A practice that flinches at the second has answered it.

What actually happens when you move

Changing accountants is a routine event, and the technical part is simple when the data is yours: change a permission, grant access to the new one, carry on. When the data sits in the practice's portal, the same move involves a request, a wait, and files to import somewhere new - which is exactly the moment you discover what format the export produces. So it is worth knowing the answer in advance, even with no intention of moving.

What should not factor into the decision

"It is what everybody does." Irrelevant - different businesses need different things.
"It is free." Nothing is free; the cost simply does not appear on its own line.
"I do not understand systems." The accountant or the vendor sets it up and you use it. This is not a technical consideration.
"We will decide later." The decision is made the moment you start working, whether or not it was discussed - so it is better to discuss it.

Your Accountant's Portal or Your Own System: Who Holds the Data

Key takeaways