Ask for everything while the relationship is still live, not afterwards. That is the whole art: a handover that starts at notice runs cleanly, a handover that starts on the final day does not run at all.
The checklist
Files
- Source files for everything that was made, in editable format and not as pdf.
- Photography and video in original format, with the licence terms attached.
- Fonts and their licences, with the expiry date.
- The brand book and the templates, in their latest version.
Access
- Ad accounts, analytics, tag management, marketing automation.
- Domain names, hosting, certificates, administrator rights on your website.
- Social media channels, and the two-factor verification attached to them.
Put those accounts in your company's name and give the agency access, rather than the other way round. If you have not done that yet, this is the moment.
Commitments
- Running licences with their end dates, so your successor knows what expires.
- Contracts with suppliers, photographers, voices and models.
- What is still running and what is still to be invoiced.
Knowledge
- One two-hour handover conversation between the old and the new agency, with you present. This is the most valuable part and the one most often skipped.
- What was tried over recent years and did not work. Without that your new agency will repeat it.
What you should have settled at the start
A handover clause in the contract: which files, in what format, within what period, and at whose cost. At the start that clause costs nothing, because nobody has an interest in being difficult yet. See what to put in an agency contract.
The tone decides the result
An agency parted with properly delivers a proper handover, even when the contract requires little. An agency that heard it from someone else does exactly what the contract says and not a line more. See how to end things with an agency properly.
In a guided agency switch this checklist runs from the moment of notice, so the new agency does not start by hunting for files. See Agency selection & pitches.
See also: who owns the work when you stop.