Contractor and freelancer offboarding checklist

Contractors and freelancers often get access fast and are forgotten when the project ends: a guest account in your chat app, a login to the website, a password texted to them. Run this list when any contract ends.

Track it in Handover

Collect the work

Get final files, source files and logins to anything they set up for you.
Make sure your business owns accounts they created on your behalf (domain, ads, analytics, social media).

Remove access

Remove guest or collaborator access: chat, project tools, shared drives, website admin, store collaborator accounts.
Change any shared password they were given.
Remove them from ad accounts, analytics and social media pages.
Revoke API keys or integrations they connected.

Close out

Pay the final invoice and collect any tax form you need.
Return or collect any equipment.
Record what was removed and when.

Questions

Why is contractor offboarding often missed?

Contractors usually aren’t on payroll, so the HR checklist never runs for them. Keep a list of what each contractor was given, just like employees.