Prepare for an employee departure with an access list, someone responsible for each action and a check that active files have been handed over. Closing a work mailbox does not, by itself, provide a complete record for every application in use. Start by identifying the tools and their owners, then have authorized changes carried out according to your procedure and each provider's available functions.

Which access should you review when an employee leaves?

The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security recommends identifiable individual accounts, permissions limited to work needs and a process for managing the account lifecycle. For your business, a list prepared before departure turns these principles into concrete questions instead of relying on one person's memory.

Your record can cover business email, the CRM, shared documents, appointment booking, electronic signatures and tools specific to the occupation. For each service, record the account concerned, its role, the person who administers it and the action requiring confirmation. This record tracks progress; it should not contain passwords or recovery codes.

Who authorizes and who carries out each action?

Separate authorization from execution. The manager confirms the change in circumstances and continuity needs. The person responsible for the tool establishes the procedure with the provider, then records what was done. An action that has only been requested should not appear complete simply because an email was sent.

In its guidance on administrative privileges, the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security recommends reviewing accounts when job functions change or someone leaves the organization. It includes access held by service providers. Set arrangements and timing for your business; this article does not establish a universal legal deadline.

How can you keep client files usable?

Before removing an account, identify active files, appointments requiring a handover and documents whose ownership or responsibility needs transferring. A client record may remain accessible while an attachment or form depends on another tool. Ask the responsible person to check those relationships using the service's authorized functions.

Consider a fictional example: someone manages quotations and meetings in two applications. The team identifies who will take over each file, checks upcoming dates and confirms that the replacement can open the necessary documents using their own account. This scenario does not describe an Axentra client. It shows why operational handover deserves its own line in the departure record.

What evidence should your record retain?

For each action, retain its reference, owner, date and the result of the planned check. Simple statuses can distinguish “requested”, “completed” and “verified”. A screenshot or log can document an action where retaining evidence is appropriate, without copying unnecessary client information into the tracking record.

Also clarify with your provider how invitations, shared links and application connections should be checked. The exact effects of disabling an account depend on the service and its configuration; do not assume that one command covers every tool. If something remains unresolved, record the question and who will follow up rather than closing the file artificially.

Where should you start this week?

  • Choose one role in your business and list its applications and their administrators.
  • Prepare a role-change or departure record without including secrets.
  • Check the handover of a fictional file and record questions for the providers.

When building a CRM or client portal, Axentra can help you describe this workflow and the expected responsibilities. The goal is tracking your team can understand, with explicit roles and traceable decisions. Our backup restoration guide complements the continuity side; our client portal guide discusses file follow-up.

Official sources

Canadian Centre for Cyber Security — Implement access control and authorization; Managing and controlling administrative privileges, ITSM.10.094. Sources consulted on November 7, 2026. The proposed record is an organizational method to adapt to your business's procedures and tools.

Photograph

Illustration of computer-based work, unrelated to an Axentra client: Fabian Irsara / Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0. Resized to 1200 pixels wide, EXIF orientation applied, RGB conversion and WebP quality 84; no other changes.