Bringing staff on and taking them off
How a firm invites, suspends, reactivates and removes staff in Achekam, within its seat limit, and what should happen to a leaver's clients and work.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Accountants & audit firms in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya
Joiners and leavers are where a firm's access control is tested. A new trainee needs to be working on day one, so someone gives them broad access to save time. A manager resigns, works out their notice, and on their last afternoon nobody remembers that they were the account manager for a long list of clients and the only person who could approve one client's payroll. Their login lingers for weeks because suspending it might "break something".
Both moments are predictable, which means both can be handled by routine rather than improvisation. This article covers how Achekam handles inviting, suspending, reactivating and removing staff, and the checklist that should run alongside it.
Invitations by e-mailed link
A firm administrator invites colleagues by e-mailed link under TEAM > People and gives each one a role. The invitee follows the link to set up their access.
Before sending an invitation, decide the role deliberately. A firm can allow or deny what each role may do, check why a member may or may not act, and grant named time and collaboration permissions per role or per person. Start each new person on the narrowest role that lets them do their job, and widen it when there is a reason, rather than starting wide and planning to narrow it later. Later rarely comes. The permission model itself is explained in roles and permissions.
Two sign-in settings belong in the same conversation. Users can turn on two-factor sign-in with an authenticator app, a firm can require it for all members, and members can sign in with Google or Microsoft Entra ID once the firm sets up single sign-on. If the firm requires two-factor sign-in, tell new joiners before their first day so they arrive with an authenticator app ready; see two-factor sign-in and single sign-on.
Seat limits
The subscription's seat limit is checked on every addition. If the firm is at its limit, a new person cannot be added until there is room.
Plan for this around intakes. A firm that takes on several trainees at the start of the year should check its seat position well before their first day, not on the morning they arrive. The same applies to temporary help during busy season.
Suspension versus removal
An administrator can suspend, reactivate or remove a member. The choice between suspending and removing should follow the situation:
| Situation | Usual choice |
|---|---|
| Extended leave, such as a sabbatical or parental leave | Suspend, then reactivate on return |
| An investigation or disciplinary process | Suspend while it runs |
| A leaver who has finished their last day | Remove, once their work has been handed over |
| A contractor between engagements | Suspend, and reactivate for the next one |
Suspension is the cautious step: access stops, and it can be restored. It is the right immediate action whenever there is doubt, including on a leaver's last afternoon if the handover is not yet complete. Do not leave a leaver's access active because handing over their work is unfinished; suspend first, finish the handover, then remove.
Reassigning clients and engagements
A person's login is attached to responsibilities. Before removal, each one needs a new owner:
- Account manager. Every active client needs one; the Onboarding page will not mark a new client active without an account manager. A leaver's clients need a successor named before they go.
- Restricted clients. Partners and administrators can restrict a client, or one engagement, to named people. The account manager and the engagement's partner and manager can always open a restricted client, so the successor must be named on the client to keep access working.
- Follow-ups. Staff can put dated follow-up tasks on leads for themselves or colleagues. Open follow-ups assigned to the leaver need re-assigning so nothing goes quiet.
- Lead assignment. If the firm assigns unowned connector leads by turn or by audience, take the leaver out of the rotation, or new leads will keep going to them.
- Booking page. Each staff member can have their own booking page for leads. Make sure no prospect is sent a leaver's link.
- Approvals. Anyone who approves pay runs, timesheets or other work needs a replacement in place before they go.
A leavers checklist
Put the above into a checklist that HR, the leaver's manager and an administrator complete together:
- List the leaver's clients, engagements, open follow-ups and approval duties.
- Name a successor for each, agreed with the relevant partner.
- Hand over, with the leaver present where possible, and record the handover.
- Tell affected clients who their new contact is.
- Suspend the leaver's access at the end of their last working day.
- Confirm nothing was missed, then remove the member.
Access removal is also a data protection matter. The firm's Information Officer is usually the person responsible for making sure personal information is protected when staff leave. In South Africa, the Information Regulator's guidance note on Information Officers explains who the Information Officer of a business is, how to designate deputies and register them, and their responsibilities under POPIA and PAIA. Nigerian and Kenyan firms have their own data protection regulators and should apply the same discipline.
For joiners, keep a matching checklist: role chosen, invitation sent, two-factor sign-in ready, introductions to the clients they will work on.
Write both checklists this week, and use the leavers list the next time anyone hands in their notice, starting on the day the notice arrives rather than the last day.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
