What Should You Confirm Immediately After Settlement?
Immediately after settlement, obtain written confirmation of legal completion, reconcile the closing payments and verify the documents, cover and access needed to operate.
What you confirm immediately after settlement matters because a busy inbox can hide an unfinished task. For an Australian accounting-practice buyer, the first priority is to establish exactly what has completed, what authority you now have and whether anything needs prompt attention.
There is room to enjoy the milestone. First, turn the reassuring messages into a dependable completion record. That gives you a sound basis for ownership announcements and the first decisions you make as the buyer.
What to confirm immediately after settlement: the short answer
Written legal completion confirmation, including the effective date and any immediate restrictions.
The final settlement statement, payment evidence and executed purchase and loan documents.
Effective insurance and the required lease or other third-party consent documents.
The minimum vendor handover and authorised access needed for day-one responsibilities.
Outstanding actions with named owners, dates and escalation contacts.
The first repayment, payment account, reporting obligations and secure completion records.
Has the purchase actually completed?
Ask your solicitor for clear written confirmation that the transaction has legally completed and what that means under your contract.
A lender drawdown notification or payment receipt describes a funding event. It does not, by itself, establish that every legal completion requirement has been met.
Confirm the effective completion date and, where relevant, time. Ask when possession, control and the agreed business risks pass to you, and whether any restrictions remain.
These details can affect which entity issues invoices, who approves a payment and when the agreed ownership announcement can be released.
The scope also matters: buying an accounting practice and buying a fee book can involve different assets and arrangements. Your completion confirmation should reflect the transaction you signed, rather than a broad assumption that everything associated with the vendor has transferred.
Once that confirmation arrives, circulate it only to the people who need it and follow the agreed communication plan. If a message is ambiguous, ask the solicitor to clarify it before announcing ownership or exercising control that depends on completion.
Do the money and final documents reconcile?
Obtain the final settlement statement and reconcile it against the agreed purchase price, deposit, buyer contribution, finance proceeds and adjustments. Check what was paid, to whom, and which amounts remain payable.
An unexplained difference deserves a question while the people involved still have the transaction open.
Keep payment confirmations with the statement and obtain the final executed purchase documents, including schedules and agreed variations. business.gov.au’s buying guidance explains that a written contract records the agreement, final cost and accepted payment method. Your solicitor should identify the documents that evidence completion of your particular purchase.
Do the same for finance: request the executed loan documents, confirmation of the amount drawn and any remaining fees or conditions. Compare the actual drawdown with the settlement calculation.
An approval letter belongs in the file, but it should not be your only record of what was ultimately funded.
If part of the price is deferred, record the payment dates and adjustment process separately. The distinction between vendor finance and deferred consideration remains important after completion: a future purchase-price obligation may sit alongside loan repayments and requires its own diary entry.
Are insurance and premises arrangements effective?
Ask for evidence that the agreed insurance is effective for the correct entity, activities and commencement date. A quote or application is not the same as confirmation of cover.
Refer questions about exclusions, prior work and the vendor’s continuing insurance arrangements to your insurance adviser and solicitor.
For tax services, the Tax Practitioners Board’s professional indemnity guidance states that registered tax agents must maintain insurance meeting its requirements throughout registration. You should confirm how the operating entity meets its obligations, because purchasing the practice does not establish that the vendor’s policy covers the buyer.
For premises, retain the executed lease, assignment or other agreed document and the required landlord consent. Ask your solicitor to confirm the effective arrangements and anything still to be lodged or delivered.
The guide to taking over a commercial lease provides context for this separate part of a business purchase.
Check the practical essentials too: who holds the keys, whether access is available and which rent or security payment is next. Keep this conversation narrow enough to resolve immediate uncertainty, rather than reopening every lease issue considered before purchase.
What vendor handover must be verified on day one?
Confirm receipt of the deliverables that were due at completion and the minimum authorised access needed for immediate responsibilities. That may include premises access, agreed records, a contact for urgent queries and access to essential systems.
Record a missing item accurately instead of marking the whole handover complete.
Check that access has been transferred through the approved process, with permissions appropriate to your role. The issues covered in technology due diligence can help distinguish legitimate operational access from a vendor simply sharing a password.
A successful login is useful evidence, but it does not establish the right to every record.
Where a business name is part of the purchase, confirm who is completing the registration steps. ASIC’s transfer guidance explains that the current holder starts the process and supplies a transfer number, which the new holder uses to register the name.
Legal settlement and registry administration are separate milestones.
This is the minimum day-one verification.
A broader vendor handover plan covers the coming weeks: introductions, knowledge transfer, staff support and client continuity. Although those Stage 9 priorities need their own programme, the buyer should still confirm that the immediate completion deliverables have arrived.
Who owns the remaining actions and first repayments?
Some administrative work may remain after legal completion. Ask your solicitor which items can remain open and whether they affect your next actions.
Keep one short register showing the item, responsible person, due date and evidence needed to close it. Escalate uncertainty promptly through the agreed contact.
For finance, confirm the first repayment date, expected amount or calculation basis, frequency and nominated payment account. Check that the authority is in place and sufficient cleared funds will be available.
Do not assume the first payment falls on the same day each month as a previous facility.
Extract any reporting and ongoing obligations from the signed documents, including deadlines for financial information or insurance evidence. Assign someone to maintain that calendar.
Your acquisition finance adviser can clarify finance questions within the agreed services, while your solicitor should explain the legal effect of obligations you do not understand.
Keep the completion evidence together
Store the final documents and confirmations securely, with an index that your accountant and solicitor can use. business.gov.au’s record-keeping guidance identifies transaction and bank records among required business records and advises secure storage and backups. You should ask your advisers what retention requirements apply to the acquisition records, as those requirements vary.
Agree who records the opening balances and purchase allocation, and supply the final statement rather than an earlier estimate. This first evidence file supports immediate accounting and reporting, while the wider record-transfer and client-retention work belongs in the continuing handover.
An illustrative first-day check
Suppose a buyer receives written legal completion confirmation on Friday, along with the final statement and insurance evidence. The loan has drawn, but the first repayment date is unclear and one agreed system-access invitation has not arrived. This is an illustration, not a standard settlement timetable.
The buyer confirms the repayment details through the agreed finance contact and records the missing invitation with its owner and agreed follow-up date. The solicitor clarifies any limit on immediate use of that system.
The buyer can then make decisions using known facts, while the actual requirements depend on the contract and circumstances.
Frequently asked questions
Can I announce ownership when the loan funds arrive?
Wait for written legal completion confirmation and follow the agreed announcement arrangements. A funds transfer alone does not confirm the legal position or resolve communication restrictions.
Should I keep draft documents after receiving signed copies?
Keep the final executed set clearly identifiable. Ask your solicitor which drafts, correspondence and earlier versions should also be retained so important evidence is preserved.
Does settlement automatically transfer the vendor’s insurance?
Do not assume it does. Confirm your actual cover, insured entity and effective date with your insurance adviser, including arrangements for prior work where relevant.
What if a completion document is missing?
Tell your solicitor promptly, identify the missing document and ask what it means for your position. Record the responsible person and follow-up date without assuming a missing copy means settlement failed.
Is the entire client handover finished at settlement?
Usually it needs separate continuing work. Verify immediate deliverables first, then follow the agreed handover programme for introductions, knowledge transfer and client continuity.
Start ownership with a clear completion record
The first task is modest but consequential: establish the completed legal position, reconcile the money and identify the responsibilities now in your hands. With those facts recorded and open items assigned, you can move into the broader handover with fewer avoidable uncertainties.
Considering Buying an Accounting Practice?
Discuss the finance confirmations and repayment arrangements connected with your accounting-practice purchase.
General information only. This article does not constitute financial, credit, legal, tax, accounting, compliance or valuation advice. Finance is subject to lender approval, eligibility criteria, terms, fees and conditions. Consider obtaining independent professional advice for your circumstances before acting.
