Office manager leaving? A five-day handover checklist

Accounts only they log into

The office manager tends to collect logins the way a junk drawer collects keys. The phone carrier portal, the building access system, the office supply account, the domain registrar, sometimes the payroll portal. Many were set up with their own work address as the account name, which means password resets go to a mailbox that is about to be closed.

Start with a list. Ask them to write down every website they sign in to for work, and next to each, whether anyone else can sign in. Then check Microsoft 365 for connected apps where they are the only assigned user. In the Microsoft Entra admin center these are under Entra ID > Enterprise apps, on each app's Users and groups page.

• Portals registered to their own address: move them to a role address the business controls.
• Admin roles in Microsoft 365: confirm someone else holds the same role before theirs is removed.
• Passwords kept in a notebook or a personal browser: move them to a password manager the business owns.
• Sign-in codes that go only to their phone: add a second person or a second method first.

Mailboxes only they send from

Office managers often run the front door: info@, orders@, accounts payable. The mailbox may have five members, but if only one person ever sends from it, the others do not know the templates, the tone, or which threads are still open.

Sending history is visible in mail metadata: who sent from which address, to whom, and when. You do not need to read a single message to see that one person answered every vendor for three months. Before they go, make sure at least one other person has both Full Access and Send As on each shared mailbox. In the Microsoft 365 admin center, that is Teams & groups > Shared mailboxes, then select the mailbox and use Manage mailbox permissions. Full Access alone lets someone read the mailbox but not send from it.

Vendors only they talk to

Every office has vendors who only know one name: the cleaning company, the copier lease, the landlord's property manager, the IT provider, the coffee service. When that person leaves, invoices bounce, service calls go unanswered, and contract renewals happen without anyone deciding.

Pull the list from your payables history and from the office manager's memory. Then ask them to send a short introduction to each vendor naming the new contact. An introduction from the person leaving lands far better than a cold email from a stranger a month later.

Handover in 5 days

Five working days is enough if the list exists by the end of day one.

• Day 1: they write the list of accounts, mailboxes, vendors, and recurring tasks. You review it the same afternoon.
• Day 2: add second owners and second logins. Move account recovery addresses off their personal mailbox.
• Day 3: the backup performs the week's routine tasks while the office manager watches.
• Day 4: vendor introductions go out. Recurring meetings they organize are recreated under a new organizer.
• Day 5: walk the list again, mark anything still single-owner, and book a check-in call for two weeks after they leave.
• Keep the list. It becomes the seat page for whoever takes the job next.