MSP client offboarding checklist: what to flag when a client leaves

What should an MSP flag when a client leaves?

An MSP offboarding checklist covers credentials, licenses, backups and documentation handover, and it should add one more line: note which long-running systems hold years of business records and who at the client owns the decision about them. That single flag lets the client decide on records before cancellations, without the MSP ever touching or describing the data.

You are in an unusual position. You know the client's systems map better than most of its executives: which tenant, which PSA-linked line-of-business apps, which file shares, which backup sets. You also operate under a services agreement and, often, a confidentiality clause. This checklist keeps the two apart.

Offboarding checklist with a records flag

Use this alongside your standard transition runbook. The last group is the new part.

Access and accounts

• Admin credentials, MFA devices and break-glass accounts transferred to the client's named owner
• Vendor portals, domain registrar and DNS control confirmed in the client's name
• Remote management agents and monitoring removed on the agreed date

Licenses and subscriptions

• List of every subscription the MSP resells or manages, with renewal dates
• Billing ownership moved to the client or cancelled with written client approval
• Cancellation dates for SaaS tools noted so no tenant is deleted by default

Backups and retention

• Backup sets, retention periods and restore locations documented
• Client told in writing what happens to backups when the MSP contract ends
• Any legal hold or retention requirement confirmed with the client

Records flag (metadata only)

• Client's owner or executive asked who decides what happens to old tenants and archives
• Systems with five or more years of history listed by name only, such as mail, CRM, help desk, file shares, ticketing
• Client reminded that exports should be taken before any tenant or license is cancelled
• Introduction offered, not assumed: "Would you like to be introduced to a service that assesses records for licensing?"

What counts as a trigger inside an offboarding?

Not every departure is a records event. Read the reason for the exit.

The 3-limit rule for MSPs

Before you say anything to a client about licensing, check three limits.

1. Contract limit. Read your master services agreement and any NDA. If it restricts you from discussing a client's systems outside the engagement, stay within what the client already knows or ask for written permission.
2. Data limit. You never export, copy, summarize or describe the client's confidential records for a referral. You share the company's name, size, industry and a contact the owner approves.
3. Consent limit. The introduction happens only because the owner asked for it or said yes. No contact details pass to SourceX without that.

This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm your contractual obligations with your own counsel.

How does the introduction work from here?

1. The owner says they would like to explore whether their records have value.
2. You submit the introduction with the owner's agreement, using the referral form or your referral link so the owner applies directly at sourcex.si/apply.
3. SourceX qualifies the company on size, history, data breadth and rights.
4. The company completes a data inventory; the data inventory builder is a useful way for them to list systems.
5. Price and terms are agreed, buyers review, and nothing is binding until the company signs.
6. If a deal closes, data is delivered only after an executed agreement and the company's authorization.

How do rewards work for an MSP?

Partners earn 25% of the eligible platform fees SourceX actually collects from the referred company's licensing deals, capped at $100,000 per referred company. The reward is paid only after the buyer pays and SourceX receives its fee; a lead, meeting or signed agreement alone does not trigger payment, and no reward is guaranteed. The reward is a share of SourceX's fee and is never deducted from what the company receives. Check your own client agreements for any rule on referral fees, and read the program terms. The MSP referral page covers the role in more detail.

When not to raise it

Skip the conversation if the client is leaving over a dispute, if a lender or trustee controls the assets and has not been involved, or if the company has fewer people than the baseline of 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded). Also skip it when the main data belongs to the client's own customers without consent. An MSP that pushes introductions on a hostile exit risks the relationship for no gain.

Next step

Add the records-flag group to your offboarding runbook this week. When a qualifying client leaves, register as a partner, ask the owner for permission and introduce them. The introduction email builder drafts a message the owner can approve.