Project handover letter template for agencies

The last email of a project is the one a client keeps. A good handover letter tells them three things in plain words: which accounts they own, what access your agency had and has now removed, and where everything lives. Below is a template you can copy, with guidance on each part and a check to run before you send it. For the platform-by-platform removal steps, see the handover checklist.

What the letter is for

• For the client, reassurance. Everything is in their name, and your access has ended or is clearly scoped.
• For you, a dated record. Months later, when Dana at Harbor Fitness asks whether Northside Studio still has access to anything, the answer is one email away.
• For whoever comes next, a map. A new developer can start from the letter instead of a search through old threads.

Skip the back and forth. Let one link walk your client through it

The handover letter template

Subject: [Project name] handover: what you own, what we've removed, where things live

Hi [Client name],

[Project name] is complete, and this letter is your record of the handover. Please keep it somewhere safe.

1. What you own
Everything below is in your name, under your own login:
- Domain: [domain], registered at [registrar], account [owner email]. Renews on [date].
- Hosting: [host], account [owner email].
- Website: [site address], your administrator account [username].
- Apple Developer account: [Company], Account Holder [name].
- Google Play developer account: [Company], owner [email].
- Payments: Stripe account [account name], owner [email].
- Code: [repository address], owned by [your organization].
- [Other service]: [account], owner [email].

2. Access we had, and what we've removed
On [date] we removed our access to each account below. Screenshots of each users list afterward are attached.
- [Platform]: we had [role]. Removed on [date], confirmed by [name].
- [Platform]: we had [role]. Removed on [date], confirmed by [name].
- [Platform]: we created [keys or users]. [Replaced or deleted] on [date].
[Anything we still have, and why. For example: "We keep Editor access to the website under your support plan until [date]."]

3. Where things live
- Code: [repository address], main branch [name]
- Design files: [location], shared with [email]
- Documentation: [location], including how to [update the site / release the app]
- Backups: [where, how often, and who can restore them]
- Analytics: [property name], owner [email]

4. What we recommend you do now
- Change any password that was shared with us during the project: [list, or "none were shared"].
- Check the recovery email and phone number on [account].
- Put these renewals on your calendar: [domain renewal], [Apple membership renewal].

5. If you need us
[Support terms, for example: "Your support plan covers fixes until [date]. Email [address]."] If you work with another team later, forward them this letter.

Thanks for working with us,
[Your name]
[Agency name]

One link per client, with every step checked. Reserve a founding place

Filling in "What you own"

• List each owner's login email, never a password. If a credential has to change hands, the client sets a new one.
• Transfer first, write second. Anything you registered in your own agency account during the project, such as a domain, a site or an app, should move to the client before this letter goes out. The handover checklist covers each transfer.
• Name who holds the top roles. In App Store Connect, the Account Holder is the only user who can sign Apple's legal agreements and renew the membership (Apple). The client should know who that is.

Filling in "Access we had, and what we've removed"

This is the part clients read twice, so remove first and write afterward. At the time of writing:

• App Store Connect. The Account Holder or an Admin deletes your user in Users and Access. Apple notes it can take up to 10 minutes for access to be fully revoked (Apple).
• Google Play. The account owner or an admin opens your user details in Users and permissions and selects Remove user (Play Console Help).
• WP Engine. Removing you from the User Portal doesn't delete your WordPress users or SFTP users, so check both and list them separately (WP Engine).
• WordPress. When your user is deleted, choose Attribute all content to another user before Confirm Deletion. The other option, Delete all content, deletes everything attributed to your user, pages included (WordPress).
• Stripe. A removed team member loses access immediately (Stripe). Stripe also recommends rotating API keys when a team member with access leaves or changes roles, and the old key can keep working for up to 7 days while servers are updated (Stripe).

If you keep any access on purpose, for a support plan for example, say so in the letter with the role and an end date. A short, honest line here does more for trust than a long list.

Filling in "Where things live"

• Link, don't attach, anything that changes, such as code, design files and documentation.
• Name the owner of each shared folder, so the client can see it's theirs and not yours.
• Point to the how-tos a new developer would need: how to deploy, how updates work, where backups are kept and who can restore them.

Sending this to a client? Send one link instead

Send it, then keep a copy

Send the letter from your own email, with the screenshots attached, and save a copy with the project files. Ask the client to reply to confirm they've received it. That reply, with a date on it, closes the project for both of you.

If the client wants a call to walk through it, go through section 2 together with their users lists open. Seeing each one without your name in it is the reassurance the letter promises.

Skip the back and forth. Let one link walk your client through it

Doing this for every client?

Get Set Keys gives each client one link that walks them through the access steps at kickoff and checks each one as it's done, and a handover link that hands access back at the end. Porter, the setup helper on every link, answers your client's questions straight away and passes anything it can't answer to you. Get Set Keys launches in November 2026, and you can reserve a founding place before launch.