The business should control its work accounts and have a safe way to regain access if someone leaves the team.

Keep a record of who can manage email, domains, payments, and cloud files. Check recovery details before you need them. For Apple devices, record the work Apple Account or device manager; do not copy passwords into the notes. Little Fight NYC can help map who controls each account.

Start with the account that controls your business email.

Turning off an email account may still leave a former contractor able to open shared files or sign into other tools.

List the systems they used. Have each account owner check and remove that access, including shared links. Keep the records the business needs and transfer control of files before closing an account. Little Fight NYC can help list those systems and check that the access is gone.

Start with the services and folders the contractor used.

Give a new teammate the accounts, devices, files, and instructions their role needs, then test a real first task with the manager.

Use role-based access rather than copying another person’s entire setup. Keep the owner of each account clear so later changes do not depend on memory. Little Fight NYC can help set up role-based access and test the first day with the manager.

Describe the role and the first task the person must complete.

Before someone leaves, make sure the business can still reach the mail, files, and tools that person used for work.

List their work accounts, including Microsoft 365. When they leave, an approved account manager should stop their sign-in first, without deleting anything, then keep needed records, transfer control, and only then close or reassign them. Do not wipe a device until the business has its files. Little Fight NYC can help.

Start with the accounts and files the person controls.

A Mac, iPhone, iPad, or Windows computer can hold a business mailbox, cloud files, saved sign-ins, and the only copy of an important setting. Keep a private device record with the device, its work account, its approved recovery route, and the person responsible for it.

Before wiping, replacing, or handing over a device, confirm that the business can open the records it needs from another approved account or device. On a Mac, iPhone, or iPad, have the person signed in sign out of their Apple Account on the device itself before it is erased; a device erased while still signed in can stay locked to that account. Do not put account passwords or sign-in codes into the record.

• Check the signed-in devices in the Apple, Microsoft, or Google account before removing one.
• Keep business recovery details under business control.
• Test access before an old device leaves the business.

• Start here: turn on two-step sign-in for every admin account. For each one, add a second sign-in method, such as a second phone, an authenticator app, or a security key, and save the backup codes, so a lost phone does not lock you out.
• Keep at least two people with admin access to email, the domain and payments, so one absence cannot lock the business out.
• Store business passwords in a password manager with a shared business vault, not in notes or spreadsheets. Set it up as a business account with at least two admins, and keep its recovery kit somewhere outside it.
• Save each account’s recovery codes somewhere the business controls, and check that the recovery email and phone number are current.